The Sacrifice
by MetallicZinc
Summary: When Lucy gets approached by a certain wizard, only to know about a terrifying truth, what would she do? A struggle erupts in her heart and mind. Hazed with uncertainty, she would have to make life-changing decisions along the way, keeping the conflict in her heart to herself, she could not even confide to anyone in the guild, for fear she would hurt them. Logic? Or Love?
1. Chapter 1: The Truth

**Hey, everyone! This is my first fanfiction ever and it was quite funny how I came up with the idea. My friend and I were talking about our dream Nalu ending and I sort of came up with the idea. And I thought it would make a great story so…yeap. Please don't forget to drop a review and follow this story…your support means everything to me~ Over and Out!**

 **DISCLAIMER: IF I ACTUALLY OWNED FAIRY TAIL, WHY WOULD I BE WRITING FANFICTION, I WOULD RATHER BE DRAWING KICK ASS MANGA CHAPTERS! CHARACTERS BELONG TO HIRO MASHIMA~**

Chapter 1: The Truth

"Lucy!" His voice reverberated in my ears, it sounded like a magical chime, I had always hoped that it would never end. Bit by bit, I am starting to fall deeper and deeper into the spiral of intimacy. Never had I thought that I could fall for that pink-haired idiot.

However, I did not have the courage to ever let the other guild members know about my feelings for the notorious Salamander. To hide my emotions, I would deny any chances of the both of us evolving into a couple whenever we were the targets of the guild's incessant teasing. Now, everything was different. Every aspect would be seen in a different light.

It was the war against Acnologia and the Alvarez Empire. Acnologia would be inactive for a certain period of time, due to the Dragon Slayers' admirable efforts in injuring him. Right then, Zeref's silhouette shifted in the distance. He approached me, his facial expression remaining profound. The both of us made eye contact throughout the time he took to approach me. My blonde locks swayed with the direction of the wind, my brown orbs stayed still, not willing to show any signs of giving in. The man standing in front of me have been living for centuries, and he possessed immense magical power. He was also the beloved of our first guild master. My mind was racing: Why would be approach me? Am I going to die? What is going to happen to me?

As though he had read my mind, he started," I see you are a great part of Natsu's life. He feels deeply and greatly for you, Lucy Heartiflia." I flushed deeply at his astounding statement. This lead to an even longer string of queries. What did Natsu have to do with him? What has our conversation have anything to do with my bond with Natsu? Questions swirled through my mind like a whirlwind, never failing to fill me up with even more curiosity. He opened his mouth and started," Lucy, I really need you to believe in what I am going to confide in you. There's absolutely no reason for me to lie to you now. This is the absolute sincerity. You can choose what to do with this piece of information in whatever way you like though. Natsu is E.N.D, E.N.D stands for Etharious Natsu Dragneel. He was my brother at first, but after his death, I kept his body to resurrect in the future. After living out my life, seeing a countless number of deaths, foolish people serenading and treating me like a God after my calamitous curse took effect, I decided to create Etherious in order to destroy my catastrophic presence on this planet. I created a limitless number of demons, but the strongest one I created, a fire demon, was none other than Natsu. I used my brother's body to give him life as a demon. He was then raised by the King of Fire Dragons, Igneel. And that is pretty much his story until today."

My mouth hung agape, unable to immediately digest the information that came in a huge chunk. My best friend (and my secret crush) had been a demon all along? My head hung in suspense, trying to fully comprehend the full situation. The huge weight of reality dawned upon me as I looked up to further question the black wizard. Curiosity overwhelmed me as I stuttered, "W-hat…is h-he…supposed to d-do?" "He would have to destroy me." Zeref replied, sounding tenser than he usually was. It was then that it struck me. A daunting the truth that no human would ever be prepared to face. I was shaking uncontrollably, tears welled up in my eyes, preparing to trickle down my porcelain cheeks at any point in time. I bit my lip so hard that I could taste the cold, metallic taste of the crimson liquid. My fist clenched, as my fingernails dug deep into my skin. All the memories came back, as drops of salinity started to pour down, unwilling to be kept captive in my eye sockets.

 _He held out his hand as we were escaping from the guards._

 _His goofy grin._

 _"_ _Save your tears for when we win."_

 _Him catching me, risking his own life in the process, not even once but twice._

 _Finding him snuggled up with Happy, leaning against my bed, muttering my name._

 _His whole body engulfed his flames when he was fully determined to save his dear comrades._

 _Hugging him so that he would not do anything so reckless that would cost his own life._

 _Embracing him from behind to let him know of my limitless gratitude for him._

 _Being in his warm embrace when I lost Éclair._

 _Even those moments when he would break into my house and I would almost immediately kick him out._

 _The time when he uprooted a whole Sakura tree and let it sail on the flowing river, just for my sick self to see._

 _Just every single essence of him. (His beloved scarf too.)_

 _Was he really a demon? He was ever more caring, more compassionate, more humane, more loyal than any other human being I have met. He had never shown even one slight chance of being an Etharious._

As my train of thoughts came to a halt, realization dawned upon me. I breathed in a huge breath, allowing it to give me strength and courage to finally clarify the huge elephant in the room at that moment.

"Zeref…Will Natsu….." (To be continued…)


	2. Chapter 2: The Heart Wavers

**Hey everyone! I'm back with the second chapter after a long wait… I'M SO SORRY I PROMISE that I will update consistently further on. Hehe. And enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: IF I ACTUALLY OWNED FAIRY TAIL, I WOULD MAKE EVERY EPISODE HAVE AT LEAST 10 NALU MOMENTS AND MAKE NALU CANON SINCE EPISODE 10, BAHAHHA. ANYWAYS, ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO HIRO MASHIMA. THE ONLY THING I HAVE GOING FOR ME IS THIS STORY..T^T**

Chapter 2: The Heart Wavers

"Zeref…Will Natsu d-d-I mean pass away once he defeats you?" Dead silence followed the daunting question, the sound of the pin dropping would even be resounded across the vast plain.

With a wavering look in his eyes, the raven-haired wizard gave in and nodded. In that moment, a surge of fury rose in my very core, at the same time, my eyes reflected a sense of disquietude that seemed to pique Zeref's interest.

"Yes, I did love my brother. It's not like I wanted to kill myself along with him. However, I knew that the best person to slain my neglected self was my very own brother, is that really wrong?" My face creased into a frown, unwilling to empathize with the man right in front of me, but I perceived his perspective as somewhat understandable.

My chagrin dissipated right with the realization of what Zeref's intention was. My tense and stiff body loosened a little, a presentiment of my fleeting anger. A tense dead air followed once again, before Zeref started orating.

" You can choose what you want to do with this knowledge. You can convince Natsu to not kill me and risk Earthland's safety…or you can keep it to yourself and let Natsu take my life along with mine and receive the greatest honour of protecting the innocent citizens of Earthland? There's no way you can choose both either, that's all you have to know." Countless thoughts and scenarios flew through my petite little head until a question popped into my head. "So… after Natsu had finally defeated you, would he die instantaneously?"

He shook his head from left to right, every shake lessening my apprehension, until he replied, his volume so low that his answer resonated more like a whisper than a proper statement," He won't die instantly, because demons have different anatomy as compared to humans, he has seven days to live, until he perishes from this world."

My thundering heartbeat began again, each thump filled my head, disallowing me from hearing anything else except its attention-seeking hammering. I put my hand up to my mouth to prevent myself from hurling out any contents I had been digesting after the huge shock being experienced. One imminent sentence was stuck in my mind as I hung my head down.

 _Would one week be enough?_

As I looked back up to face the cursed wizard, he had already vanished. My eyes widened from complete astonishment. I staggered back to the Fairy Tail base, my eye hollow, fully devoid of any emotion.

As I was going to open the huge wooden doors, I let out a sigh and stopped any urges of crying, so that no amount of salinity would trickle down my cheeks, not even the slightest tear. With an immense amount of courage that I had to pick up from somewhere deep inside my heart, I pushed the guild doors open. Returning to the guild has always been a pleasant feeling. I wonder what happened to the euphoria that overwhelmed me every single time I entered the place I called 'home'.

What was worse about opening the guild doors was that the first person my eyes landed on was the fire dragon slayer. And the first set of eyes to return my gaze belonged to the man with a head of pink (or salmon) hair.

 ** _Oh boy, this is going to be a long day._**

 _To be continued…_

 **Hehe. Sorry for that cliff-hanger. I still gotta keep my readers hooked to this story, am I right? ;)**

 **Reply to my first ever review EVER: {** ** _Adelene900: This is not fair! You're making it suspense! Just the way I like It! But Still! I wanna know what's next! Keep Updating please! And good luck with the story!} Aww, thanks for your kind support, Adelene900. It means a lot to me and at least, now you have the second chapter! ;D Haha, sorry for the suspense though, this is the way to get more people hooked though, glad that you enjoy my story, I promise to not give up on this story, no matter what. A little good news: I am going to post chapter 3 on the same day ;)_** **Over and Out!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Denseness Of Natsu D

**Hey everyone, if you read the reply to the review of Adelene900, yes, I decided to update 2 chapters in one day. YASSS, so happy right now~ \\(^o^)/ It's a little consolation for making you all wait for a new chapter for so long. I hope you will accept this chapter as my apology.**

 **DISCLAIMER: IF I OWNED FAIRY TAIL, I WOULD HAVE MADE JELLAL AND ERZA ACTUALLY KISS AND NOT TROLL MY SHIPPERS. ALL CREDITS FOR THE CHARACTERS GO TO HIRO MASHIMA (a.k.a TROLLSHIMA)**

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Chapter 3: The Denseness Of Natsu Dragneel

*In the perspective of Natsu*

It has been weeks since the start of the war between the Alvarez Empire, mages and Acnologia. For some peculiar reason, I have not seen Lucy for the whole of today. Curiously filled my entire body as I tried to sniff out her heavenly scent. Once Mirajane caught sight of me flaring my nostrils to catch a sliver of the intoxicating scent, she inquired," Who are you sniffing out for, Natsu? Lucy, maybe?" She threw a knowing smirk at me.

I had no idea why she gave me that look. Questions flooded my mind once again. "Hey! How did you know that I was sniffing out for Lucy? Did you learn fortune-telling from Cana? Teach me!" I exclaimed.

Mira showed a clear hint of being disappointed towards me and let out a huge sigh. "You just don't get it, do you, Natsu? Never mind, you'll find out sooner or later with that dense little mind of yours, just don't realize it too late though!"

I was extremely confused with her baffling reply. I just side tracked my confusion for the moment to take time to sniff out for Lucy. When I finally caught on to her scent (vanilla and strawberries), I was stunned. It was mixed with a faintly familiar scent.

Somehow, the person she was with sent chills down even my spine, overcoming my whole body with eeriness. Due to the many pummels and hits I had gotten to my head, my memory had deteriorated greatly (Author's Note: Probably because of his fights with a VARIETY of bad guys and Gray), so I could not put my finger on whoever that was. I just wanted to rush towards Lucy's side and punch the living senses out of that guy. I thought to myself," Wow, how did I get so possessive?" While being caught up in my own train of thoughts, in the spur of the moment, the putrid scent evanesced instantaneously. A flood of questions entered my mind once again.

 _Who was with Lucy?_

 _How did he disappear so quickly?_

 _Did anything happen to Lucy?_

 _Is she okay?_

 _What if she's hurt?_

As my mind was bombarded with questions pertaining to the blonde celestial mage, someone burst through the guild doors. A lock of blonde hair entered through the wooden doors. Followed by the deep pools of chocolate brown eyes. It was Lucy.

It was time for my questions to finally be answered.

Until I saw trepidation and pandemonium written all over Lucy's face, no matter how hard she was trying to hide it with that "warm" smile that she tried to imitate. My eyebrows swerved to almost meet in the middle, causing minute lines to form on my forehead. Lucy was obviously my closest friend, besides from Happy, and I cared immensely for her. I could never ever bear to see her get hurt for even a nanosecond. Sometimes, even I am dumbfounded at how overprotective I can be of her. But who wouldn't be?

 _The way her melodious voice told fairy tales._

 _The way her body curves at the right places._

 _The way she cares for her comrades._

 _The way she puts her celestial spirits and her friends before her own wellbeing._

 _The way she hugged me on Tenroujima Island when she was frightened out of her wits' end._

 _The way she finds comfort in my warmth._

 _Even the way she gets mad at me for sneaking into her apartment but still lets me sleep on her bed anyways._

 _Oh, snap out of it, Natsu! She needs you right now! What happened to you?_

As I looked up, she seemed baffled and at a loss for words once she set her eyes on me.

I was filled with curiosity once again. After transfixing my gaze on her, I questioned.

"What's wrong, Lucy?"

 _To be continued…_

 **Sorry for the short chapter but I really wanted to make a chapter about Natsu's point of view. And yes, I made Natsu REALLY dense, because he wouldn't be Natsu if he wasn't, would he? ;) {Just realizing how much I like the winking face, haha} Anyways, drop me a review, follow and favorite! I totally appreciate your support 3 Over and Out!**

 **GOOD NEWS: Since I am obviously not a normal person *wink* *wink* to those who know me, haha, I'm going to be doing my own omake chapters. All my original ideas though, because I wanted to make the story different and more interesting. hehe. The Omake Chapters are going to be labelled like normal chapters, except that they will have a decimal at the back, hehe. Continue following on the plot of the story and thanks for reading!**


	4. Omake 1: A New Book, A New Discovery

Chapter 3.5: A New Book, A New Discovery

Muahahahaha! I'm gonna be such a troll and add an omake before actually continuing on with the story, huehuehue. But, nevertheless, I put in a lot of thought into this chapter, so please enjoy reading it ;D

 **DISCLAIMER: IF I OWNED FAIRY TAIL, I WOULD MAKE A WHOLE MANGA CHAPTER AND EPISODE ABOUT GALE ALREADY. ALL CREDIT FOR CHARACTERS GO TO HIRO MASHIMA!**

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 ***Lucy's Perspective***

"Natsu! Are you even listening?" I asked inquisitively, a bit ticked off that my teammate was not paying half of his attention span to what I was talking about. "Sorry, Luce, I was just thinking about something unimportant." He replied sheepishly, scratching the side of his cheek subconsciously. "What were you talking about again? A new book again or something?" He continued, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Never mind. It wasn't that important anyways." I huffed, sighing a huge breath of disappointment. The new book that I had been eagerly awaiting for was the book about the magical charms of Earthland. I came upon a segment that stated: _If one is ever entranced by the love charm, only their future soulmate can break its effect._

 _Natsu…you broke it, didn't you? On the day we met. I can't say it aloud now, but I really do hope that you could feel the same about me as how I feel about you. Considering your denseness, I would probably have more chances to get a stick to confess to me though._

A light rosy hue tinted my cheeks like paint marking a blank canvas. Without realizing it, I started staring at the mage before me eating his plate of fire pasta, which just got delivered to our table. However, the blue Exceed sitting at the same table would not turn a blind eye to such a sight. (Obviously...who wouldn't? /) Rolling his tongue, he exclaimed, "You likkeeeee him."

Natsu glanced up and noticed that I was staring heatedly at him. He put on his signature grin, and said cheekily," Do you enjoy looking at me that much? Lucy, you are really a weirdo." That statement made me come back to my senses. Flustered, I denied immediately, stuttering, "A-a-as I-If!" Little did I know what the fire dragon slayer was thinking about when I was babbling on about my new book.

 ***Natsu's perspective***

 _Recently, all that has been going through my mind is Lucy. I wonder what's happening to me. I probably spent a lot of time with her. Or maybe it was because of seeing her future self perish right before my eyes. Tch, that bastard dared to attempt to kill Lucy, thank god that I kicked his ass in the end. Even though sometimes I may call her weird or mean, she is a vital part of me. She is my closest nakama. She is etched on my mind 24/7. Every moment spent with her is left in my mind so imminently, I would be appalled if I had forgotten anything I went through with her anyways._

 _Only then did I realize, I can never bear to see Lucy get hurt ever again. If she leaves my life, I don't even know what I may succumb to. She's my best friend, after all. We shared so many moments together. I liked the warmth and the alluring scent of her body when she thanked me for destroying the Eclipse portal. The slow trickle of her tears. I wonder what led her to shed tears. Talking about tears, I really hate to see her cry, don't I? I hate it whenever she cries, no wonder I always strive for my very best to prevent from seeing those beads of transparent liquid travel down her rosy cheeks. Her chocolate brown eyes pooling with…─_

"Natsu! Are you even listening?" Lucy asked, curiosity etching her face. She tilted her head to the left a little, a sign that she was pondering over why I was zoned out when she was talking to me. I replied almost instantaneously, rambling in the process," What were you talking about again? A new book again or something?" She seemed somewhat disheartened that I was not giving her the full attention that she desired, causing a stab of guilt to pierce my conscious. Just then, Mira came over and put the plate of fire pasta that I ordered down gently, emanating the peaceful aura that she usually does and said," Here you go!"

Once the smell of the simmering dish wafted into my nose, I began chowing down on the delectable dish like I have not eaten in centuries. I was so immersed in gobbling down the fire pasta that I did not realize a pair of chocolate brown orbs staring at me. Until, Happy stated, "You likkkkeee him."

Brimming with curiosity, I glanced up, only to notice that Lucy was staring at me, almost to the point that her gaze was intense. Million replies ran through my mind at the drop of a hat and I found the answer that I had been looking for. I put on my signature grin and stated cheekily," Do you enjoy looking at me that much? Gosh, Lucy, you are really a weirdo."

Her eyes widen upon finally coming to her senses whilst her face turned as scarlet as Erza's hair. She averted her gaze away from me, and stuttered," A-a-as I-If!"

 _Wow, she looks extremely adorable when she blushes._

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 **Hahaha, I'm done with THAT! How did you like my NaLu Omake chapter? It's filled with cold, hard facts! So, yeap. Please feel free to, I don't know…drop a review some time? Hmm…I'm going to continue with the flow of the story for Chapter 4, so please favorite and follow this story. Your support means everything to me!**

 **Reply to Adelene900's review:**

 **{Adelene900}:So! What's next?! And... Can you make it more mysterious..? It'll be more awesome that way!** **Make it be more drama... Intense…Or whatever you think it is.. And.. Put away romance away for a while. And focuses for the main reason of this story..** **(Good Luck! Keep Updating! Love Ya')**

 **Reply: Awww, thanks for your support. Yeap, I'm going to make it as mysterious as possible because a good fanfiction will obviously need a lot of suspense and mystery, right? Sooooo, yeap. I'm touched that you enjoy reading my little story and gonna add tons of spice. However, romance must still be added because it's a romance story...heh heh ^^ I appreciate your support very very much!**

Over and Out~


	5. Chapter 4: Thank You

**Chapter 4:** **Thank You**

 **Hi, Guys! I'm back it left off at whether Lucy will tell Natsu about what happened with Zeref. Let's see what she'll do next ;))**

 **DISCLAIMER: IF I ACTUALLY OWNED FAIRY TAIL, I WOULD IMMEDIATELY ANIMATE THE CHRISTMAS OMAKE (2015) CHAPTER ALL CREDITS FOR THE CHARACTERS BELONG TO HIRO MASHIMA-SENSEI!**

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"What's wrong, Lucy?" His onyx eyes seemed to peer into my very soul, searching every corner for an answer.

My hands started trembling with trepidation. My heart raced wildly. How could I tell him something so sacred? How could I bear that amount of responsibility? Why not anyone else? Why me? I could think of an endless list of people Zeref could have told that piece of information to, but why me? Pure apprehension coursed through my veins. I absolutely did not have the rights to tell him that he was E.N.D. The one that Gray wanted to destroy. The one who his father, Igneel, wanted to kill, wanted to banish into oblivion.

I really could not bear to see his face rid with fear.

Fear of his destiny of having to face one of his comrades and risking either one of their lives.

Clouded by an infinite sea of thoughts, I did not realize liquid pooling at my eyes.

And that very liquid seep down my cheeks.

And neither did I notice my right hand had been balled up into a fist.

And finally, I did not notice that my legs had lost all its power and balance.

All that followed was pitch blackness, followed by the booming voice of the man I loved.

"LUCY!"

I was swimming in the pool of my unconsciousness. I heard ambiguous yet familiar voices from my surroundings. Even though my five sense were far from functioning properly, I could still vaguely make out what each of them were saying.

"WENDY! WHERE'S WENDY?!" That was obviously Natsu. Although I was stuck in a paralysing state, I was nevertheless touched by my best friend's concern over my wellbeing.

"Natsu-san! Calm down! Oh gosh, what happened to Lucy-san?!" That was obviously Wendy, with her melodious and sweet voice.

"She…she…just…just…collapsed after…after…her whole body was…was…shaking…PLEASE SAVE HER!" Natsu was blubbering! Between his sobs, I could sense that he was full of distress and unease.

I could feel my heart being ripped into pieces. My uselessness caused Natsu to succumb to such a state.

Not only that, but I could hear the faint sobs of Happy too. He was muttering something under his breath. "No…Again…Future Lucy…Why?"

"Natsu-san! Happy-san! There's no need to worry~ She was just under extreme emotional stress. She should wake up in the next hour soon, once her organs start working again. So, until she wakes up, don't get her more stressed out than she already is, okay? She can still hear what we are saying, so…in order to ease her stress, I think that both of you should stay strong for her." Wendy blurted out a crisp and clear diagnosis of my condition.

Finally…I could put my mind to ease. Fortunately, I was carried to the guild's infirmary by a pair of arms. With a reminiscent warmth. As I was put down with an astonishing amount of gentleness, I could hear his husky voice.

"Lucy…you can hear me, right?" He took in a big breath," I'm sorry that I caused you so much stress. I was probably invading your personal space and going beyond boundaries. For goodness sake, I even sleep in your bed! Not like I can help it though, your bed is pretty comfy, haha. However, please wake up soon and I promise I will put your needs and your feelings before anything else. Just…don't disappear on me again."

I wanted to break out of the barrier bounding me from this seemingly endless sleep.

I wanted to talk to Natsu.

I wanted to embrace him so badly.

How could I hold back when he was being so sensitive about my wellbeing.

I would be bawling in pure bliss due to how much he cared about me.

I love him, undeniably.

But he just thinks of me as a best friend, while I see him as something beyond that.

I was friend-zoned. This eternal state of never crossing the line between friendship and love.

The whole thing was one-sided.

Thinking about it more, the more I wanted to curl back into the barrier that was binding me from exiting this deep sleep. My thoughts were contradicting, but still, they still made quite a lot of sense.

"Lucy…" Natsu and Happy muttered my name as though they were stuck in a trance as well.

That was when my closed eyelids decided to open. Beads of warm tears were secreted from my eyes once I saw the scene before me. Natsu's head was rested on my abdominal area and Happy laid near my head, and they were fast asleep. At the same time, they were muttering my name in their sleep. The scene was so serene, so peaceful. I could only put on a slight smile.

Thank you, Natsu, Happy. For bringing me an abundant and never-ending amount of laughter, experience, elation, exhilaration, friendship, warmth and most importantly, love.

Instead of pondering over the complications in my heart, I decided to bask into the serenity of my two inseparable best friends dozing away.

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 **How was that? Huehuehue. Leave me a review to express your thoughts, don't keep them to yourself. ;) Also, if you enjoy this story, please favorite and follow. ^^ I appreciate all your support 3 Over and Out~**


	6. Chapter 5: The Hug

**Chapter 5: The Hug**

 **Hey, everyone! My computer is experiencing those DAMN issues with Windows 10 update that I will legitimately curse to hell. Now I'm using the most simple and logical method. I'm using my iPhone and my iPad to try to update the story because of the sliver of inspiration that I had gotten yesterday. I would never want to disappoint all of you just because of some stupid glitch, so...yeap, here I am typing away on my phone. Since the updating process will be undeniably tricky, there may be some flaws in the following chapters where I'm using my phone and tablet to update. My heart goes out to my #1 fan: Adelene900.**

 **To Adelene900: Thanks for your never ending and heart touching support. All of my reviews have all been written by you and I appreciate the huge support. ^^**

 **DISCLAIMER: IF I ACTUALLY OWNED FAIRY TAIL, I WOUDLN'T STOP DRAWING PHOTOS OF MY SHIPS, LIKE YASSSSS. All credits for FT characters goes to Hiro Mashima.**

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As I almost melted into the tranquility of Happy and Natsu sleeping, they started to stir, proving that they were about to wake up soon. I waited in bated breath, to see their reaction when they notice that I had awoken. Natsu and Happy both rubbed their eyes groggily, before opening their eye lids gracefully. Their eyes widened with elation when they saw that I was staring at them, they mouths expanding at the sight at as well.

They chimed in unison," LUCY! You're awake!" Happy sped to come hug me and his face landed in my bosom, while his tiny little paws wrapped around my waist. Natsu's eyes were gleaming with the tears that started to pool at the ends of his eyes. He seemed like he would have a random outburst of either felicity or sadness. I waited longingly for his reaction.

*Natsu's perspective*

 _Lucy. She was awake. My best friend, Lucy Heartifilia. The blonde who had been the only thing on my mind all day all night. I didn't know that my heart could beat that fast, and that my heart could well up with so much joy. I was at the verge of breaking down due to pure happiness. I could never contain it. After the year I left Lucy to go train, I felt this pang of guilt every single day. Lucy no longer had that spark in her eyes. I noticed immediately, and that tugging feeling in my heart increased due to the immense amount of pain that I caused the girl I never wanted to hurt. I would be reminded from her excruciated expression every time she would lecture me about leaving her or whenever she recalled about her period of depression. It seeemed to crush every bit of happiness from her soul. When I met Gildarts on my year of training, all I could think about was how Lucy would feel during the year I had left. Her absence. And me wanting to see her face all over again. That urged and served as motivation for me to train even harder, so that I would only be gone for a year. So that I would see Lucy again. Gildarts noticed me staring into the waterfall one day. I was thinking about none other than Lucy._

 _*Flashback*_

 _She saved me from the waterfall during the fight with Oracion Seis. Just because I was motion-sick. She risked her life for my wellbeing. It was all at a waterfall. Her feelings and her friendship saved me from turning bad by the effects of Nirvana. How could someone be so important and significant to me? She was everything that I could concentrate on. How did she feel when I left her that note. Was she crying or was she happy? Would she be okay?_

 _" Natsu," Gildarts called out." Whatcha thinking about?" I confided to him about my thoughts and how I could not understand why I felt extreme anguish whenever I thought about how I left Lucy. And about how much I missed her (and the guild). Gildarts widened his eyes to my sudden confession due to shock that the sense dragon slayer could feel that way towards the opposite gender. He wondered what the blonde did to make Natsu such a complete mess. But after looking at how much Natsu was blushing and gazing at the ground. His heart completely melted. He started,"Remember how I said fear shouldn't be shun away from? How it makes you stronger? How you are feeling now is another concept. Don't hide it, don't shun away from the prominent feeling inside your soul. It will strengthen your bond with Lucy, and above all, will make you a stronger and a happier person." Natsu nodded, still unaware about what Gildarts was trying to hint at. He grinned at the pink-haired mage and scruffed his hair up. "My My, Natsu, look at how much you've grown. You will understand your feelings after some time. Maybe soon or maybe later. But I hope you don't discover your true emotions when it's too late," Gildarts continued. However, there was one thought that stayed in Gildart's mind: I thought it would have been Lisanna but I guess Lucy must be pretty amazing to make Natsu like this._

 _*End of flashback*_

 _I couldn't contain my feelings. My instincts tempted me to go forward and being the blonde._

And that's what I did.

She was stiff and tense at first at my sudden proximity, probably due to the fact that she was surprised and was not expecting such a tight embrace. However, after a while, she started to relax under my touch and she sunk into the embrace. It was as though he was right at home, with her head leaning on his chest and his chin laying on her head. It seemed so right. As though her body was especially made for him. "Don't leave me like that ever again, weirdo." She chuckled slightly, and nodded her head slowly but surely. I could feel her face rising in temperature and transcending into a red tint. I smirked at once, glad to be seeing her blush once again.

*Lucy's perspective*

I expected him to just say that he was thankful that I was safe. Or just ruffle my hair and tell me that he was worried about me. But did I expect this? No way.

He lunged forward and brought me into him strong hold. I was taken aback. Yes, we have had our hugging moments before, but I would have never expected him to show such affection. Due to my current state of shock, my body tensed up at the sudden contact, but after a while, it relaxed under his strong hold. It felt right. To be here in his arms. As though his body was meant for me to be hugged by. I never expected anything from this dense Dragon Slayer at first glance. He seemed like a glutton, judging by the way that he ate when I offered to buy him and Happy food as thanks for breaking the love charm's spell cast by Bora. Never had I expected Natsu to bring me to such a wonderful guild, meet such amazing people. All of them were so strong in their own way and they never gave up on their friends. My life would have been a wreck if it hadn't been for Natsu. I would have had to be the heir of the Heartifila Konzen. I would be stuck following the strict expectations and rules of rich life. I didn't need fortune bestowed upon me. All I needed was to be loved. Loved by a family. Loved by friends. Loved by people who cared about me. Natsu made me the girl I was. He showed me the true wonders of life. He led me on the path to pursue my own happiness. My train of thoughts was broken by his voice. "Don't leave like that ever again, weirdo." I blushed at his sudden outburst. Feeling heat rise to my rosy cheeks. I leaned in even further into his chest, as I nodded my head.

He was truly the one who could make me eternally content.

Little did the two of us realize (because we were so caught up in our moment) that the guild members had walked into the infirmary and that Happy was right beside us. And the worst part was, Mirajane had taken a photo using a mini vision lacrima. (A/N:Their version of a camera, because if you referred to chapter 429, then there was a mini communication lacrima that worked like a phone of the modern world, hehe.) Everyone threw knowing looks back and forth, and chimed,"Congrats to the new couple of Fairy Tail! And Lucy finally waking up!" Natsu and I were immediately flustered and let go of each other, and denied in synchronization," WE'RE NOT A COUPLE!"

As expected of Fairy Tail, they threw a party to welcome my awakening. And after a long exhausting day, I trudged back into my apartment and wrote a letter to my deceased mum.

"Dear Mom, it's Lucy. Today was undeniably the best day ever. Even though I did collapse due to emotional stress. However, when I woke up, Natsu embraced me immediately. He was so warm and it felt so right. Is this what you wanted to tell me when I was younger? Was this what you meant by "finding your soulmate"? Also, what do I do? I am so baffled by everything. Why did Zeref had to to choose me whether to break the news to Natsu or to let him destroy Zeref and cost his own life in the process? Please help.

Love,

Your Daughter,

Lucy.

P.S. How are you and father doing in Heaven?"

With that, her heavy eyelids overwhelmed her, as she leaned her head onto her folded arms with fatigue, and lulled herself to sleep.

The only thing that taunted me was the lingering feeling of remorse. I felt that I should tell Natsu to prevent him from killing himself. And also because Natsu deserved to know the truth. That very thought even haunted her in her dreams. That night, she dreamt of something utterly dreadful.

"Natsu...I have to tell you something," I hesitantly called him over to a secluded spot. He marched nonchalantly to where I was, with a carefree aura surrounding him. Little did he know that every step he took, my heart shook uncontrollably. It scrunched up in pure agony as Natsu approached. The wait was agitating. Once he finally arrived in front of me, and we were face to face, he started first, disallowing me to break my news to him faster," Lucy, whatever you are going to tell me, I know it won't hurt me because I trust you completely."

 _So much for breaking it to him quickly_.

At that moment, I had not realised that tears had started streaming out of my eyes. All I could do was muster up enough courage that could last me a sentence. "N-Natsu...you...you are act-actually...E.N.D...and Zeref...is...your...your...b-brother."

Without asking me for an explanation, he turned his back on me and walked away. His last words of parting was," I should have never benign you to Fairy Tail. Meeting you was a complete and utter mistake."

It seemed somewhat weird. Even though I wanted to cry my eyes out. Even though I wanted to bawl until my vocal chords wanted to rip out. I just stared at his disappearing silhouette with a blank look on my face. My finger nails dug into my hands and I could feel blood dripping from my palm. My feet were immobile, as though they lost their ability to move. I could not even chase after the perishing figure. My heart had been shattered into fragments. How would I even live with myself after this?

That's when I woke up from that petrifying and harrowing nightmare. Cold sweat stuck to every inch of my body. My breathing was as heavy as lead. Would that really happen? Thank god it was all a dream. A fleeting dream. That etched itself into my mind. Even the memory of it sent jitters and remorse down my spine. Even if I had not told him, time would tell. He would find out. He would know. He would feel as if I did not respect him enough to tell him the truth. And that very truth purely was about him. I was struck with a dilemma. I really didn't know what to do.

Knowing that I would not be able to go back to sleep, I got up from the chair I was sitting on while writing yesterday to have an early start to my day. Even then, there was this odd and vaguely familiar feeling that someone was trespassing into my home. I looked around the room, and there they were.

Natsu and Happy had stuck into my room yet again! They were sprawled out on my bed, but the weird thing was...where did my blanket go? I looked at the table where I fell asleep on. My eyes widened and my insides were brimming with sentiment. My blanket lay there, having fallen on the floor, probably due to me moving around in my sleep. Both of them cared for me immensely. But what I hid from them brought indescribable amount of torture to me. How long could I keep up this facade? How long would I be able to stay this way without breaking my strong front in front of my friends? How would I manage to slow down my succumbing to insanity?

Letting out a long and frustrated sigh, I bent down and picked up the blanket, making my way to my very own bed and put the blanket over them so that they would feel more comfortable. I did not bother them while they snored away. Instead, I brushed my teeth and got ready for the day. Even though a million thoughts were swirling around in a huge typhoon in my head, I made chicken and waffles for two person's share, also leaving a fish for Happy. When I looked up at the time, it was already 10a.m. How did the two of them sleep for so long. I made a swift decision to wake the both of them up.

"Natsu! Happy! Wake up! I made breakfast for you two!" I shook the both of them until their eye lids fluttered upon. Natsu asked," What's that nice smell?" Happy followed," Is that fish?" Chuckling," I made chicken and waffles for you, Natsu. And yes, Happy, I put raw fish on your plate as well." Both of them exclaimed," Lucy, you're the best! All hail Lucy Heartfilia!" And after that statement, they lunged towards the ground and bowed down towards me. I rolled my eyes to their endless stupidity and cuteness. "I get it, I get it! Natsu, go brush your teeth and Happy, go gurgle your mouth! Both of you stink!" (It sounded weird but I always kept an extra toothbrush just in case Natsu decided to break into my house and crash at my place.)

After all three of us filled our famished selves, we went to the guild in merry spirits. Well, all was merry until we saw what happened there and then...

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 **Yayyyyyyy! I managed to actually finish the fifth chapter on my iPad! Hehehe~ No glitch or malfunction can even faze me! My fanfiction can still be saved! I told you that I will never give up on this fanfiction no matter what, didn't I! So, until it is officially completed, I won't start with other projects, and neither will I stop updating! ^3^ love you all to Jupiter and back! (Because the moon is too near)**

 **Drop me a review and if you liked the story (and my commitment), follow and favourite! I absolutely appreciate the support! 3 I also sent a request for my story to be added into two NaLu fanfiction forums, so...look forward to that! And my NaLu fanfiction may start appearing on WattPad soon too! ;))**

 **Over and out!**


	7. Omake 2: Jealous

**Chapter 5.5: Jealous?**

 **Hey, guys! I am so sorry for my tardiness on the new chapter but here it is, fresh and new! Hehe. I am so thankful for the new reviews that I had gotten and the people who followed and favourited the story ^^ Anyways, being the troll I am, I will be adding an on ale chapter before the big reveal of what is going to happen in Chapter 6. Also, I WILL be tweaking the Alvarez Empire War a little 'cause it's still ongoing and I wanted to add some references and you know, make some changes to the way the story flowed to add some drama and angst. That's all and I hope you will enjoy the chapter despite my laziness in updating because I get more excitement when typing on a keyboard of a laptop or computer. Fortunately, my parents will be buying me a new computer so, yay! Enough with my ramble and let's get on the story, shall we?**

 **EDITED: THERE WAS A GLITCH WITH THE WHOLE EFFING STORY AND RANDOM NUMBERS AND SYMBOLS STARTED SHOWING UP. THANK GOD I HAD WRITTEN THE STORY DOWN IN MY NOTES, OE ELSE I WOULD HAVE HAD TO REWRITE THE WHOLE THING. HAIZ.**

 **DISCLAIMER: IF I OWNED FAIRY TAIL, I WOULD FEATURE A FEW EPS ON LIFE IN EDOLAS! All creds for characters and Fairy Tail goes to Hiro Mashima-senses! I don't own anything except for the plot of this story.**

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*Lucy's perspective*

I felt like I could be completely washed over by the reign of fatigue that overwhelmed and numbed my senses. Natsu, Happy and I just came back from a mission that required us to be away for one whole week! Happy and I was dead exhausted once we finished but Natsu being Natsu had a different take on the whole mission. Once we arrived at the towering building that was our guild, I realised how much I missed it even though we had been gone for like only a week, guess that comes to show how much I was attached to the guild in its never-ending antics to make everything much more fun than it already is.

"EVERYONE! WE'RE BACK!" Natsu bellowed like a true beast, causing all the heads on the guild hall to turn. "Welcome back, Natsu, Happy and Lucy." Mirajane welcomed sweetly, putting on the enchanting smile that no one would ever get tired of seeing. It was _refreshing_.

I made my way to the bar and ordered a simple salad. After Mirajane had given me my order, I was devouring the dish hungrily, letting the food lighten the fatigue. "So, Lucy, how did the job go? You seem tired," When I slumped towards the bar table, Mira consequently added,"Really tired."

"Well, Natsu insisted that we walk to the destination instead of taking a carriage because of his motion-sickness, Happy and I obliged because he said it was in 'walking distance'. Turned out that the place took two hellish days of walking, with breaks, of course. But still, my legs were aching all over the next day. After that, to add onto our list of tasks, even though we had to find one monster that was terrorising the village, Natsu sniffed out the friends of the monster that he already took down to ensure the maximum safety of the villagers. Then, we went into an all-out war with the monsters, which lasted 4 days! And after that, since he destroyed a quarter of the village we only got three quarters of the reward we were supposed to get! Gah! Thankfully, Natsu stubbornly agreed to taking a horse carriage on the way back after MUCH discussion." Lucy took a short glance at Natsu to give him a glare but to only find him conversing with Lisanna. "My, my. You must be tired, tell me if you need more food to fill you up with energy." Mira consoled, going back to wipe the water off a few remaining cups that were left to be dried off. I nodded slowly, eating away at the remnants of my salad. While doing so, I eavesdropped onto the conversation Natsu and Lisanna were having.

"Natsu! I heard you had quite a long and tiring mission! Here, why not eat to get your energy back?" Lisanna inquired and offered a plate of fire chicken.

"It wasn't that bad...Lucy and Happy we're just exaggerating, that's all," Natsu blatantly reply, already digging into the plate of food haven.

"But it took a week nonetheless. Anyways, enjoy the fire chicken. I made it myself! Hehe," Lisanna grinned, basking in full-blown glory at her little achievement. This irked Lucy...just a little.

"Ish gweart! Theansh, Lish! (It's great! Thanks, Lis!)" Natsu replied, and the corresponding blush on the Take Over Mage was quite imminent.

There was a feeling clouding up inside of Lucy, she did not know what but she did not like how the conversation was going.

"Next time you're hungry, just come to me, okay?" Lisanna continued, a tint of pink still lingering on her cheeks. Lucy clenched her fists in apprehension, waiting anxiously for the answer.

"Mm...sure," Natsu responded, while taking a break from gobbling down on the fire chicken.

That one statement somehow managed to creep into Lucy's head very, very slowly. And it made her feel strange, the feeling itself brought up a series of hurt, anger and disappointment. Since she could not bear to continue listening to the conversation because she might have an emotional breakdown there and then, she scurried back home.

She leaned against her bed, replaying the whole conversation inside her head over and over again.

 _Lisanna is a better cook than I am._

 _Natsu would probably be better of with Lisanna as his partner than me._

 _Natsu just took pity on me, that was why he did not kick me out of Team Natsu so that Lisanna could take my place._

 _He probably breaks into her house too...considering how much he likes her cooking._

 _Lisanna is a lot prettier than I am too...no wonder Natsu is attracted to her._

Logic was and never had and never will be present whenever it was me thinking about Natsu. I felt like a paranoid schoolgirl in love. "Tch...why do my feelings always meddle in these situations?" What I never noticed was that tears had started raining down my cheeks, gliding with ease down my porcelain skin. All I did after that was brushing my teeth and sleeping in for the rest of the day, with negative thoughts spiralling and haunting my very soul. And my tears never stopping.

That prolonged time period of me sleeping was filled with dreams (or should I say, nightmares) about me being replaced by Lisanna, me walking upon Natsu kissing Lisanna, me being the bridesmaid of Lisanna and Natsu's wedding, and a flurry of them getting closer and closer.

When I woke up, I was drenched with cold sweat and my eyes winced at the blazing rays of the sun. My eyes were bloodshot from all the weeping I had done the previous day. Not caring about my nightmares or what a mess I looked like, I dragged myself out of bed and got ready for the day. And after I had washed my face and took a long nice bath to get rid of the lingering envy in my mind, I came upon a familiar sight once I set foot in the living room. NATSU INTRUDED INTO MY PERSONAL ABODE AGAIN!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?!" I fumed, as my face burned a crimson red. Geez, he always had to come in when I'm just wearing a towel. Great. Just peachy. Once I had given him a taste of my legendary Lucy Kick, I told him not to peek when I was changing into my casual clothes for the day. After I had done so, I inquired," What did you come here for?" Aye answered nonchalantly, " To visit you, and since Happy went on a mission with Wendy and Carla, I'm bored and hungry. Can you make something for breakfast? I'm STARVING." As soon as Lucy caught ear if the word 'hungry', she recalled about the little conversation that Natsu and Lisanna were having at the guild the previous day. I felt a heavy weight tugging on my heart and my mind was filled with envious thoughts.

"Why?" It was the only word that I could mutter out at the spur of the moment.

"Why what?" Natsu had confusion written all over his face.

"Why break into my house when you can clearly approach OTHER PEOPLE like Lisanna to go cook you up something? Why me? Why didn't you reform Team Natsu so that Lisanna can be on the team? Seeing how both of you are so close to..." Upon realisation of what I had spluttered out, I clasped my hands to my mouth, realising that I had made a grave mistake to let my feelings and emotions overwhelm my sense of logic.

"Sorry, I overreacted, I'll go make breakfast now..." I hung my head down so that he would not see how selfish, naive, weak and full of want I was. And of course, my tears that were threatening to fall down any second. As I was about to pace into the kitchen, something truly astounding happened.

I would have never guessed that I would feel a hand pulling me.

The rough texture diminished any form of ambiguity on who it belonged to.

Natsu pulled me back and I was left facing his onyx eyes with my eyes widened, the minute fragments of tears ricocheting towards the surrounding air from my eyes. My eyes widened as a reflex to his sudden action.

His voice was husky and low at first, when he muttered my name. Damn, it made him look thrice as attractive as he already was.

"Lucy..." He paused as my breathe hitched, filling the room with an awfully agitating silence, as I waited in bated breath, for the words that were about to exit his mouth at any moment," I always come to you because you are my partner and my best friend. How would I even replace you or reform Team Natsu. And Lisanna was just making me food because she was worried that I'll get hungry, I guess. She's still a close friend of mine and she still has the right to care about my wellbeing right? And just because I said 'Sure' doesn't mean that I will ALWAYS ask her whenever I'm hungry, it was out of courtesy. Yeah, even though I may not be as smart as you or read as many books but I know that the past is the past, the present is the present and the future is the future, there's nothing we can do to change that. Everything happened for a reason. Lisanna supposedly dying, me meeting you in Hargeon, us becoming a team, going on missions together, risking our lives together and being best friends in the end. Yeah, Lisanna and I were best friends and we are still close friends now but us drifting apart because of her absence is also part of the way things were supposed to unfold. So I can't really force things to stay the same as they were, can I? That would totally hurt you and make you cry and you should know how much I hate seeing you cry. So, that's why it's always you. Sorry if I seem like a bother to you, hehe, sometimes I can get clingy, but it's because of Lisanna's disappearance, I guess, I couldn't bear to lose you too, Lucy. And also, I would prefer your cooking over anyone's at anytime!"

He just made me realise something.

Natsu. NATSU actually made me realise something significant about life.

He just apologised when I was being such a conceited brat to him.

He just told me that he could not bear to lose me like he lost Lisanna.

He just complimented my cooking.

All I could do was just give him a wide grin and say," Natsu! I was just angry that you came into my house not prior to my notice, that's why I overreacted, I would never blame you for breaching my personal space, even though it _can_ be annoying sometimes, haha. I'll go make you a delicious breakfast now! ^^"

With merry spirits, I went into the kitchen to make Natsu his favourite dish, fire pasta. Even though I did leave out the part about being jealous, I was touched and contented that he would say those kind and warm things about me even after I had been so unreasonable. He was making him fall in love with him more and more...and I could not help it. I just kept falling.

*Third person perspective*

For the whole day, a jolly aura was emanated from Lucy. Anyone could tell that she was having an amazing day. She never did stop smiling for an instant.

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 **Yayyyyyy, I'm finally done and I can finally sleeeep with sweet dreams. I'll reply to the new reviews on the next chaoter, because I am really sleeping, like my eyelids are getting heavier and heavier, anyways, feel free to drop me a review, favourite, follow, blah blah, you know the drill ;)) ~**

 **I totally appreciate your support, Over and Out~**


	8. Chapter 6: Anywhere

Chapter 6: Anywhere

OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS! I AM SO SORRY GUYS! I DIDN'T INFORM YALL THAT SCHOOL WAS GONNA START SOON (JUST IN CASE YOU ALL DIDN'T NOTICE). So, I finally have school sorted out so that's a great start. In my new school, Macbooks are compulsory for lessons so YAY, it means I finally have my laptop! Okay Okay, I will get started with my story now, away with my rambling!

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 **Lucy's Perspective**

We were greeted with the lying body of Lisanna. She was breathing but other than that, she seemed lifeless. Pale skin, not a single movement of her limbs (except for the rhymtic movement of her chest from breathing).

Natsu, Happy and I rushed to her side, we could not sense any form or any sliver of magic from her. Happy shook Lisanna, with tears blurring his vision, and sobbed," L-Lisanna…get up…" His forehead was wrinkled and his mouth quivered with every word that escaped from his mouth.

Natsu did not take it well either. His eyes widened with worry, his breathing became heavier and his fist was clenched in a fury of anger. The temperature in the vicinity rose drastically.

Even I didn't notice the tears that were trickling down my cheeks and my palms sweating every ounce of cold sweat they could muster.

 _Lisanna…_

Before I could even act, a certain male with a mob of pink hair had already carried the motionless figure on his back and into the guild.

"Someone help!" Happy cried out, with beads of tears flying into the air like sparkling jewels.

A deadly silence took a liking to the guild and was embedded into the guild members. A dreadfully long silence of both shock and concern hung in the atmosphere of the once-lively guild. The first one to step out of the silence was Wendy, she rushed forward and questioned instantaneously," What happened?"

"We don't know, we found her near the entrance of the guild and we couldn't sense any form of magic from her…", I replied as I tried to contain my tears in front of Wendy.

Wendy nodded her head as her hands glowed with a turquoise hue, everyone waited anxiously and apprehensively for her diagnosis. Natsu clenched his fist brutally near a pillar as he gritted his teeth, Erza had her eyebrows knitted together, Gray formed a tight, gripping line with his mouth, Mira had her blue eyes be clouded the illiquid of salinity, Elfman was paralysed in shock, the rest of the guild shared an empathic aura of sadness. The once lively guild gave a silent prayer to the heavens for the wellbeing of our dear guildmate.

Wendy wiped off the collecting sweat other forehead as she looked up, the light that was being emitted from her hands dissipating slowly.

"Lisanna-san just needs to recuperate her magic, but in the mean time, her magic was drained immediately and was zapped out of her. Wendy explained to the guild, but before she could finish her upcoming inference from Lisanna's condition, Elfman and Natsu interrupted.

"Who would do this to her?"

I could clearly sense how vicious they looked, and not even look up. They were fuming with pure rage, and I could omce again feel the temperature rising once again, and my body temperature rose with it, it was like a blazing inferno inside the guild and I could feel myself starting to perspire.

And with Natsu's reaction, I could feel my heart stinging with that heavy feeling once again. Curses.

As I took a glance at Natsu carrying Lisanna towards the infirmary (bridal style at that), I felt that feeling – once again, in full blow.

I could not believe that I would even feel jealous when my fellow guildmate had been depleted of her magic, of her _life source_. I mentally chided myself for being so vain.

But that devil in my head would not let me eject the green-eyed monster out of my system. It would be taking a prolonged vacation in my mind, or so it seems.

The me who loves everyone in the guild ad the hideous green-eyes fought and fought an endless battle inside my mind and thankfully, the greater good won – temporarily anyways.

Flooded with way too many emotions inside my head, I decided to take a breather outside of the guild.

As I walked on the pavement, I saw an animal charm bracelet on display at a nearby jewel store, I smiled, as I remembered that Lisanna's magic was "Animal Take-Over".

I lingered on the thought of buying her that charm bracelet for a little while before proceeding into the store to purchase the bracelet for Lisanna as a gift on her waking up (as soon as she did anyways). After buying the chain of sterling silver charms clinking as it jiggled back and forth. Afterwards, I grabbed a small gift card that read "Get Well Soon!" and penned down with the pen that the shop had lent me.

" _A little present for you, I hope you like it, get well soon! Oh, and may this bracelet bring you much joy, luck and anything good in the world!_ "

Afterwards, I dashed to the guild to place the newly bought present on the bedside table located beside where Lisanna was currently resting on.

I pushed open the guild doors.

I paced myself towards the guild infirmary.

I creaked open the door.

Then I saw it.

Natsu.

Natsu's blob of pink hair.

Kissing Lisanna.

Oh.

OH.

And I ran.

Oh, I ran.

Where?

Just _somewhere. Anywhere._

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YAY, I have my fanfiction juices flowing and I want to notify all of you that I will be updating this story on Sunday's and sometimes, maybe you'll find a little surprise (an update ;)) I am so sorry again for not updating for so long but I SWEAR that school has me tired. I go to school at 5.45am and only come back at like 6pm or 8pm on Fridays ;-; . So I hope you forgive me if I don't update as much as I did during the holidays. Huehuehue. Drop me a review on the new chapter, oh, and please favourite, it would mean the WORLD to me. Thanks ^^ . Over and Out~ ;D


	9. Chapter 7: I Won't Fail You

Chapter 7: I Won't Fail You

Hi, guys! I am so excited for this chapter, I am getting the CHILLS, huehuehue. ALL THE NALU ANGST. Okay okay, if any of you read Fairy tail chapter 469, I FEEL YOU. NALU FOR LYFE. If any of you wanna see my coloured version of Lucy, go to my Instagram account: _ ^^

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 **Lucy's perspective:**

After weeping my eyes out by the canal that flowed through the city of Magnolia, I trudged back home to my apartment in full-blown depression. Endless thoughts wandered in my mind as I staggered to my apartment glumly. I eluded an ambiguously horrid mood around me, seemingly making my surroundings lose its imminent colour, turning my world into infinite shades of white and grey, dull and bland.

 _Zeref should have burdened Lisanna with this piece of news instead, Pshht, strong bond? More like mutual friendship._

I proceeded up the stairs, carrying my own mass like a tumbling weight and just headed directly to my head to cry into my pillow.

Afterwards, I felt like I could rinse the digust and putrid off me with a warm, soothing bath, that could lull me to sleep.

 _So I can drown in the water._

 _Ugh, Lucy, stop being so rebellious, you aren't even a teenager anymore._

My thoughts started to contradict one another, as though I was slowly driving myself down the road to insanity.

As I wrapped myself in a fluffy pink towel that draped against every curve of my body, I went to my bathroom.

And there she was.

In my bathtub, _Lady Brandish._

 _What was one of the Spriggan 12 doing in my bath tub?!_

 **Natsu's perspective:**

Lisanna…this is the second time that she has been in a life-threatening situation. I had almost lost one of my beloved guild mates. _Why can't I protect my guild mates properly even though I had gotten stronger over the past year?_

 _Even when I sacrificed a year's worth of time that could have been used going off on adventures with Lucy?_

 _Even when I made Lucy fall into depression?_

 _Even when I agonized upon the whole fact that I missed Lucy dearly for the entire training journey?_

I berated myself for always thinking about Lucy but another part of me (and a much bigger part ;)) reassured me that it was not wrong to think about the blonde mage, seemingly even urging to trigger more thoughts about her, I let out a tiny groan of frustration at my half-assed attempt at trying to have self-control. Why did I even think of Luce that much?

That was when Lisanna's eyes fluttered upon, waking me up from my entranced state.

Her bright sapphire eyes were there.

Staring at me for a while, as if she was readjusting to her new surroundings and trying to decipher who I was, like a puzzle.

Even in a conscious state, she fell back due to the limping feeling she had in all her muscles. Her lack of magic was prominent, she had enough to keep her alive and conscious but not enough to sit up straight.

I caught her before her head would have hit the metal frame of the infirmary bed, and I tilted my head towards hers to ask alarmingly," Are you okay? Rest a little more, would you?"

She nodded lightly as she closed her eyes again, falling into a deep slumber.

That was weird.

I thought I had almost seen a smidge of blonde hair in the corner of my eye.

Only when I had caught onto the smell of vanilla and strawberries had I known it was Lucy. But her scent was not purely her scent. It had a speck of something incorporated in it. A salty tang hung in the air. Was she…crying?

I rushed towards her scent but before I could place my hands on the guild doors, master called Natsu, Happy, Erza, Gray, Juvia, Wendy, Carla, and Laxus to proceed onto the south to assist the troops there.

The Strauss Siblings, Gajeel, Levy and Lily were to be dispatched to the north for assistance as well.

The battle of Ishgar against the Alvarez Empire and Zeref was at hand.

 _Lucy…I'm sorry. I have to fight Zeref. It's the only way._

I took a quick glance at my trusty blue Exceed, nodding subtly to confirm our plan. Our plan to take down the dark wizard.

I would have to use _that_. And I hadn't the slightest clue what this final battle would bring about. All I know is that a brighter future is calling out to us, and we would grasp its warm hands willingly.

" _Speak of your future and it shall become your will to live._ "

With those words embalmed in my mind, I grabbed my scarf and thought," I will succeed you Igneel, I shall not fail, for your sacrifices will not be in vain."

 **Narrative Perspective:**

And it was going to be twisted fate, entwining two into a flurry of hardships and sorrow.

It was destined.

Destined from the very beginning.

Sacrifices to be made, tears to be lost, hearts to be broken and guilt to be spun around the pandemonium.

The harsh reality would dawn upon them, testing their love and compassion for each other.

The ultimate testimony of love or logic.

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Hi again! Welcome to the bottom part of my usual A/N! Huehuehue. Yes, it was all a MISUNDERSTANDING. Muahahhahaha. Anyways, today, I cried. Like legit. 'Cause one of my friend's friend watches Fairy Tail but ships Nali instead. I don't have anything against Lisanna though, she's just plain adorable! But I just don't think that Natsu and Lisanna as a couple will be COMPATIBLE. And the person doesn't even have proof to state why he/she ships NaLi. He/She just said that he/she dislikes Lucy. Like, you don't have to dislike a character because you dislike a ship, and you don't have to dislike a ship just because you dislike a character, doesn't mean you should hate a ship. Urgh. Some people ship Nali just cause they think NALU is overrated. Well, my reply to that is: NALU IS OVERRATED BECAUSE IT WAS MEANT TO BE.

Sorry for my long ass rant but this really needs to be brought up. I love NaLu too much. For the sake of Nalu, go favorite/follow/review this story. THANKS!

Over and out! Sorry for the short chapter and the long rant though!


	10. Chapter 8: The Truth

Chapter 8: The Truth

This is it. The chapter where everything is revealed. I'm so sorry for the really late update ((explanation in the description)).

 _Previously…_

" _Speak of your future and it shall become your will to live._ "

With those words embalmed in my mind, I grabbed my scarf and thought," I will succeed you Igneel, I shall not fail, for your sacrifices will not be in vain."

((Let's start with the story!))

Lucy's perspective:

Lady Brandish was in my bath tub.

 _The_ Lady Brandish was in my bath tub.

She was the one who attacked us on that island. She shrunk the _whole_ island. Her magic power was anything but weak. It was immense. I could feel the magic just exuding of her. And yet, here she was, basking in the comfort of the warm water in my tub. My eyes widened as my hands quivered in fear. Beads of cold sweat clung to my face as I stared agape at the sight before me.

 _What did she want?_

 _Am I doomed?_

 _Oh no._

 _Where was Natsu when you needed him?_

 _Oh, yeah, he was with Lisanna._

Tears threatened to fall as they stung my eyes.

Brandish noticed this and she inquired," What makes you so sad?"

"N-nothing…", I replied hesitantly, fearing for the worst of situations. _It wasn't like I was going to openly talk about my feelings with one of the Spriggan 12!_

"Mhm…", she looked away as though she was deep in thought, then she started again," Sit in the bath with me."

 _WHAT?! Was she mad?_

From my face rid of shock, she could tell that I was startled by her random and somewhat inappropriate outburst.

"You know what my magic can do, can't you? Follow my orders or prepare to have every house in this neighborhood to be shrunk. You wouldn't want that to happen now, do you? Anyways, Marin is in the container there so you don't have to worry about him peeking at us or whatever. Now, come in here."

Glancing down, I noticed the pleas of her teammate resounding from the small container that used to be the empty bottle I kept around in case I needed to pour some newly bought soap (in a packet) into a container.

I stood there, rooted to the ground, my heart beating faster as the seconds ticked by. My legs lacked the willpower and the strength to move forward, as if the strength had been zapped out of them. Even though it was impervious that I moved forward, my body disallowed me to.

Brandish sighed, as she clicked her fingertips. In an instant, I heard the shaking of the neighboring house. "Hear that? The house beside you, just shrunk. Come in here _now._ "

Trepidation filled my entire being as I immediately stepped forward and stripped down and stepped into the water of the tub. Even though the water was supposedly warm, it seemed cold due to the overwhelming amount of pressure that I was bearing at that moment. _Here is my chance to help the guild in dealing with one of the Spriggan 12._

With that, the complex mind game commenced.

Natsu's perspective:

As out team made it to the south, Happy and I took the golden opportunity to sneak further away from our teammates. "Happy, are you ready?" I asked, a minute amount of anxiety blossomed inside me, only to be reassured by my long one-year training. Everything that I have endured up till now, all the times I thought it would be impossible to part from Lucy, to not be able to see her face. The amount of exhaustion. The crushing amount of fatigue experienced every time after training. Now, I was ready. To face the challenge. To jump over the towering hurdle in front of me. It was either a huge milestone in my life or my very demise. I would never know what would hit me, I could only charge straight ahead without a worry in hind sight.

Happy replied, his perky voice bringing me out of my thoughts," Aye, Sir!" His white, feathered wings appeared as he carried me with his blue paws and sped off into the air at Max Speed.

 _I'm sorry for not telling you guys, I need to be the one who takes down Zeref, once and for all._

We flew at break neck speed towards where Zeref was located. Never did I expect a black carpet of people. It was a bounty of people, seemingly to never cease in numbers. There were thousands of them.

I was never the one to hesitate, so I just jumped into the battle field.

I brought out the almighty flames from my hands as I conjured up the strength I had and pummeled most of the shoulders backwards. I swiped my scorching fire across the land mass and bringing out countless people to their knees. The soldiers were intimidated by my huge mass of power but that was _not_ the last of my streak that they would see. I went on a rampage, fueled by the huge desire to protect Fiore, to protect Magnolia, to protect my guild members, Erza, Gray, Wendy, Happy and _Lucy_. Even in my flurry of rage, I reminded myself time and time again to _not_ overexert myself as the main cillian of te story had not yet been defeated.

 _Speak of the devil_.

He was there before me.

The icon of death. The root of everything evil. The Spriggan. The emperor of the Alvarez Empire. Zeref.

The black mage stepped forward with a peaceful look on his face, despite the animosity of that smile creeped me out. A lot.

"Natsu Dragneel, I see you have come to defeat me, and with a blue exceed at that. How courageous of you. Let's see if you can finally put my shameful and dreadful life to rest."

In the spur of the moment, I started to unwind the bandage on my arm. The dark wizard seemed to be intrigued by what was hiding the bandage that I had been hiding from my guild mates for such a long time. "Zeref," I muttered his name with such spite, it surprised me how such a tone could have come out of _my_ mouth," This is the last of the power that Igneel left me. It took a year of training to finally bring out this power. However, this is just a temporary power up, so once I use it against you, it will disappear off the earth, without a single trace left."

Zeref chuckled, pleased at my prowess. "Come then."

"Here I go!" I exclaimed as I charged forward.

I landed a punch on Zeref and managed to move the great wizard backwards. That was considered to be quite a feat due to my inability to even scratch a millimeter of his body when I was battling him on Tenrou Island.

After which, he came at me with a burst of his Death Magic. I swiftly incinerated the black magic as it dispersed before my eyes, probably due to the heat of my flames. The magic of the Fire Dragon was not to be taken lightly by anyone. Its flames could practically engulf anything before it and in its way to ashes into its fiery clutches, just to satisfy its hunger. The radiant heat was magnificent, as though setting the earth ablaze would not be enough for it to be content.

Zeref seemed almost gleeful while battling me, it was really… strange. It was as though he had been waiting his entire life for a chance to battle me.

Putting my worries aside, I mustered up all my remaining energy after the string of attacks, setting the area around Zeref and I on fire. Everyone in the vicinity had looks of shock written all over their faces.

I gathered even more power.

The last attack is where it counts.

Zeref seemed at bliss when the fire was headed towards him.

 _Why was he smiling when a huge ball of Igneel's power was heading towards him? Is he taunting Igneel's mighty power with that smile? Or is he happy that he's finally dying after what he did to the first master? Gah, this guy is so frustrating!_

As the fire cleared up, I was panting. The attack drained quite a bit of my magic power and the soldiers of that emerging army were totally petrified. They were reluctant to even step forward to help their dear emperor.

However, the inevitable fate was that Zeref was not brought down like he was supposed to.

I knew there was still enough power left for one last blow. Igneel's power was leaving my system fast and I could not miss my chance at beating the cause of everyone's troubles.

"I STILL HAVE POWER LEFT, I CAN DEFEAT YOU, ZEREF!" I exclaimed, frustrated at my temporary defeat.

As I was preparing to charge forward again, I heard something that stunned me.

"I met that Lucy girl a few days ago. I guess she hasn't told you yet."

 _L-Lucy…?_

 _W-W-Was i-i-it th-the d-day that I-I sensed that eerie scent near her?_

"What did you tell Lucy?" I managed to squeak out Lucy's name. Lucy was hiding something from me? And from the looks of it, it was seriously important information. Igneel's power was draining from my body as time passed by and here I was, conversing with Zeref.

"Natsu, you aren't who you thought yourself to be. And I'm not who you thought I was either," Upon hearing that sentence, I was utterly baffled by his statement," My name is Zeref Dragneel, and I am your brother. Our parents were killed by dragon ambers in the past. 400 years ago, to be exact. And in all actuality, you died along with them but I managed to preserve your body. However, in the midst of studying Life and Death, I managed to find a way to resurrect you. I gave life to you as a demon, also known as 'E.N.D', or in your case, 'Etharious Natsu Dragneel'."

My thoughts were at a disarray at that very moment. I never did trust Zeref ever since day one since I first laid eyes on him, but I was still compelled to believe him. He didn't seem like the type to lie to get out of sticky situations and at the same time. However, if what he was saying was true, how was _I_ a _demon?_ I was nothing like those bastards in Tartaros, I have always had a compassionate heart for my nakama, could I really be the enemy of everyone in Fairy Tail? And E.N.D was the one who created Tartaros, and I wasn't E.N.D. All the anger inside of me whirled into a storm as I yelled out," STOP LYING, ZEREF! E.N.D WAS THE ONE WHO CREATED TARTAROS. THAT'S NOT ME!"

His expression was kept calm even through my outburst of emotions. "Mard Geer made that up. He was the one who created Tartaros, and using your book to unify the demons of Tartaros and called it 'E.N.D's will', but I wouldn't say that your existence wasn't apart of the creation of Tartaros."

Fear-stricken, a wave of chills spread through me. Zeref continued sprinkling salt over the wound as he continued his explanation.

"You were always so stubborn, you refused to learn how to read or write, so I talked to my good friend, Igneel, to raise you. He willingly agreed."

 _Igneel? A close friend of his?_

"IGNEEL SAID THAT HE COULDN'T KILL E.N.D! IF I WAS HIM, THEN IGNEEL COULD HAVE KILLED ME OFF INSTANTLY!" I shook from the rage boiling my innards. It was too unbelievable to be true, but then, why did I feel so constrained by this? Why do I think what Zeref is spouting is the truth? Did I really not know who I really was for my entire life?

 _And the last blow came._

"And the seven dragons didn't disappear. They went inside your bodies. But they weren't of this time either. They raised 7 orphaned children: Sting, Rogue, Wendy, Gajeel and Natsu. You had me but I gave my permission. It was all in order to defeat Acnologia, the needed more Etherano, so the dragons used special dragon sealing magic to seal themselves into your bodies and you were teleported to the future, 400 years later, where Etherano levels were very rich. We got help from Anna, a celestial spirit mage to use Eclipse to bring all of you to the future. And we had to wait. Wait for the other side, 400 years in the future, to open. And it did," My breath hitched," Her name was Layla Heartfilia."

My pulse raced, my feet were just pooling with cold sweat, my legs were numb and my eyes widened like there was no tomorrow. Lucy…Her mum…her mum died because of teleporting the dragon slayers here? I… I… was responsible for Lucy's m-mum d-d-dying?

He probably noticed how my whole body was paralyzed with shock and how I was choking to get a couple of words out.

"So, X777, the year your dragons supposedly 'disappeared' was when you woke up, 400 years later."

That statement made cold sweat appear beadily onto my palms. The confidence I had dissipated into nothingness as I stared long and hard at the figure in front of me. Was I really supposed to accept that my past had been an entire lie? That Igneel had lied to me all these years? And that I was the one Gray wanted to kill? The brother of the infamous Zeref? And lastly, that Lucy didn't tell me this or that I hurt Lucy emotionally?

 _I couldn't imagine being as strong as her._

 _Her emotional strength and willpower was probably chipping away slowly…and I wasn't there for her…_

 _Stupid! Stupid! I'm too fucking stupid! Why couldn't I have been there for her? Why was I living happily when she had been trapped by so many fucking lies?! Why couldn't I have found out sooner?! I am so fucking useless!_

I was brought back to reality when it Happy's voice reverberated in my ears," Don't listen to him, Natsu!"

"Y-Yea…" I charged forward, summoning whatever strength I had left. "Natsu, don't forget. I created you…so if I die," I awaited for the silent but obvious truth that was about to come, I had been waiting ages for the day to defeat Zeref, but this string of bullshit had to come. This string of truths that had finally clicked into place. But there was a need to clear a final piece of the elephant in the room that very instant." You die too." His face was contorted with pain as his eyes were glossed with fresh tears. He seemed genuinely hurt to say that. But I didn't care.

"I DON'T CARE! I CAME ALL THE WAY TO DEFEAT YOU! I'M NOT BACKING OUT NOW!" I prepared the very final blow that was sure and fated to destroy Zeref. But something stopped me. A pair of furry paws.

"Natsu! Don't do it! Aren't I your friend?! I'm not letting you die! I'm bringing you back home!" Zeref got further and further and seemed to waver off into the distance as I begrudgingly let Happy take me away. Was the one-year training really for naught? If I couldn't defeat Zeref, then what was everything for?

 _Lucy's face._

 _Her smiling face when she had gotten her Fairy Tail mark appeared in my mind. She was the reason I should stay alive. But why didn't she tell me? She should have told me. So that I could have rushed into this battle even sooner and let everyone live on their happy lives instead._

 ** _But you wouldn't want her to forget you. You wouldn't want her to lose you. And you didn't want to hurt her by dying._**

That devil in my head spoke up. Even though hat he was saying was true, I couldn't let anyone else's happiness be less significant than mine.

I was prepared to lose everything. My resolution? To defeat Zeref, and to destroy myself.

 _Sorry, Lucy._

 _ **Hey, guys. I am so sorry for the REALLY late update. Again.**_ **I can't help it, my homework load is increasing and it is currently 2am right now where I live. School is killing me and I managed to somehow squeeze this 2000-word chapter inside here, so thanks for waiting! If anything takes too long, just know that that chapter will be at least of a thousand words, so you all can chill yourselves. Also, I will be changing the rating of the story because i added some unruly words in there? So...yeap. That's about it. Please don't leave this story! The next chapter is going to be even more intense, so yeapz! I'm going to tweak everything a little so yeapz. Now, the only Spriggan 12 that are left are Brandish, Ajeel and Marin, so i hope you all aren't confused by that. Thanks for following this story and thank you for all the kind reviews. And yes, i registered this as a nalu fan fiction already, I thought I did at first but then realised that I didn't register the pairing of the story afterwards, so thanks for the reminder, MarSOfTheGalaxies .**

 **I hope the angst isn't too much for y'all but it's okay. The bigger the angst, the more fluff there can be!**

 **Please follow and favourite this story ((And me if y'all want another story after this)). Hue hue.**

 **Over and out!**


	11. Omake 3: The Light

Chapter 8.5: The Light

He was entranced by her blond hair. Sure, she seemed like the typical damsel-in-distress type at first, he realized she was much more than that. She was strong, powerful and her eyes held a fiery gaze.

He has seen fire before, no doubt about that, he _was_ a fire dragon slayer. However, he has never seen such a bright and imminent presence, with such glow in his existence before.

Oh, and something brighter? Her blond, glowing hair. Under, the sunlight it sparkled like the stars in the sky. Well, she _was_ a celestial spirit mage. Every strand on her pretty little head could lit up the whole of Magnolia, no, the whole of his universe.

Her smile was practically profound. In a world where there were mages and magic, it would be pretty impossible for something not to exist. But there was. And that was the warmth that that smile gave him each time he witnessed it. It had and always will be there. Even till the depths of time. Even if she was to fall. To break.

What else was there for him? Her eyes. Her eyes were pools of chocolate brown, the whirlpool of reassuring brown never ceased to end in her eyes and he would always be captured by those orbs. It never seemed to end. The way her eyes glowed, the way her eyes sparkled, shined.

Her curves were simply…amazing. It was an understatement to say that she had a nice figure just like saying that Erza was just a girl. Her curvaceous body could never not attract attention. It oozed pure sexiness and he loved every inch of it. Not like he was a pervert, but it was just because _she_ loved it. She loved believing in the power of her own sex appeal, and he loved believing in her. Well, he also loved staring at her when that glint in her eye showed endless inspiration.

With how perfect she was, she would also be on the hunt for a partner to spend her life with. Even though she knew the one she craved for was her best friend, right beside her in any situation, she thought he wouldn't return her unrequited feelings back.

So, she searched and searched. And flirted with any guy that ever caught her attention. Or showed any interest in her.

This made him…infuriated. The burning sensation that he knew so well emerged, but in another form, a form filled with…envy? He could not describe it well, but every time she even _looked_ at another male, his blood would boil, his veins would bulge and it took all of his will to _try_ not to explode right there and then.

The more the two refused to admit to each other, the stronger the conflict in each of their hearts erupted. The pain refused to go away, each day was in anguish, each day was dull.

They didn't talk to each other the way they did, they stopped eating face to face like they did. And _he_ stopped breaking into her house like he did. They weren't best friends anymore, and they weren't lovers. So, what could they have done?

They didn't take the high road, that's for sure.

Those words that they flung to each other.

The tears that trickled down _her_ cheeks.

The blood that ran down his fist for slamming it against the wall too hard.

The hole that was left in their hearts.

Until, one day, she decided to take a mission. By herself.

And everything turned into a disaster.

Blood spilled. Rain poured. She knew the last ounces of her life was fading away. And that he was not there to save her. No one was.

That was when that reminiscent warmth filled up her world again. He was here. With his goofy pink hair. In contrast, his expression was anything but goofy. It was filled with concern and she was appalled to see him in such a state.

He hugged her limp body closely, and the embrace lasted for an eternity. It wasn't those eternities that you wanted to end. It was those eternities that you wanted it to last an infinity.

It also was when that eternity was sealed with their love for each other. He muttered words to her that he would never have in any normal circumstances.

He leaned in and planted a kiss in her cold yet pink lips.

With that, her face erupted into a smile.

And her last words were," Thank you for being _The Light_. "

And her entire existence turned gradually into shimmering glitter and flittered away…

And his arms held the air that she once was, a sliver of her scent still lingering, as the salinity poured down his cheeks, him letting out a cry, imitating a roar of a dragon…

 ** _Hey, guys! This was such a sad omake like wtf right? I like angsty stuff A LOT so, yeah. Sort of a sadist right now. Hahahaha, sorry for the lil late chapter but at least I updated at an okay speed. ;D_**

 ** _Over and out!_**


	12. Chapter 9: When Everything Fit

Chapter 10: When Everything Fit

Lucy's perspective:

Brandish was a dangerous foe, anyone could tell from the obscure magic power she possessed, but what I could not wrap my head aroun was that she was in _my_ bathtub. And yet, he was, with her accustomed poker face, in my bathtub, bare naked.

She stared at me, although she was _judging_ how I looked, scrutinizing my whole body, sending all sorts of chills and signals all over my body. Sure, I have taken a bath with many and I mean _many_ "interesting" girls (CANA!) but she took an exception even in such a wide range of _variety._ She finally uttered," Wear some cat ears for me, you know what will happen if you don't." Somewhat shockingly, I shot back," I don't have any cat ears."

"Here's a pair for you," she replied nonchalantly as she pulled out a pair of black cat ears. My eyes widened in shock, after which I hesitantly put on the pair of cat ears.

"Oh my…so cute!"

 _WHAT WAS WITH THIS GIRL?!_

"Now, rub my back for me."

 _This was the perfect chance!_

As she turned around, my heart pounded against my ribs as my nerves were going haywire. This was do-or-die. She has the ability to annihilate me at any point in time. I have to think swiftly. Not one moment could be wasted.

I took out a key, bracing my hand to apply the impact to summon a spirit to defeat her. Until, she asked,

"You're Layla's daughter, aren't you?"

My eyes widened in complete shock as she turned her body around and nailed me onto the cold, cobblestone floor.

"I'm going to kill you now, daughter of Layla Heartfilia."

Just then, something astounding happened.

Never did I imagine for the water surrounding us to move.

To _morph_ into…Aquarius?!

Aquarius conjured up the water in that room and swung it at Brandish.

Due to the heavy impact of the cyclone of water, Brandish fell backwards in a direct swoop. She chortled out some water and coughed profusely due to the amount of water that got into her system. Meanwhile, tears of elation brimmed at my eyes as I lunged forward to hug Aquarius, sobbing heavily.

"Aquarius! I missed you…" were the words that I could sob at that very moment. The amount of time I mourned over her loss. The amount of time spent staring at what was left of her key. The amount of time spent bawling over her absence. Yes, she wasn't the _kindest_ celestial spirit. But she was my first friend, and that meant more than anything 'kindness' could have given me. She hugged me back as she smiled contently as well. "I missed you too."

Until we were done with our heartfelt reunion did Aquarius say, "Put your clothes on. What type of indecency is that?"

I giggled a reply, "Okay."

Our moment lasted until Brandish's presence was known to the both of us again.

"Nice to see you again, Brandish. You've grown quite a bit…" When Aquarius said those words, I was appalled, they knew each other?!

"NOW BARK FOR ME, MUTT!" The order Aquarius had given out startled me, I felt like my eyes would have popped out of my eye sockets if they could because what happened next was unbelievable.

"YES, MASTER!" Brandish complied merrily as she got down onto fours and barked like how a puppy would.

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!

"Good girl!" Aquarius exclaimed as she petted her head as if she was a mere puppy. After a while of comical moments of Brandish turning into a mere follower of Aquarius that probably made me lose 10 years of sanity.

Afterwards, the blue-haired celestial spirit coughed and started explaining," It seems that there were some misunderstandings, leading to this."

"Brandish", she mentioned with much intent, turning towards the mage with emerald hair," Layla never killed your mother."

I felt a heavy weight being elevated from my heart, bringing me much relief, however, the tension was high in the room, Brandish and Aquarius held such intense gazes towards each other, however, I could sense a mixture of grief, shock and curiosity from Brandish's orbs as they softened, as though trying to beckon Aquarius to spill the truth about her mother. My whole heart burned with a strange feeling. Even through all the books I have read, I could never figure out the true root of the feeling. It was similar to empathy. I always wondered how my mother has passed on. Although her death left a huge scar on my childhood days, everything that has happened came past in a blur. Everything was hazy. Whenever I tried to reminisce what my father had told me about Mother's death, I always felt that there was something more to her rather than some mere disease.

Silence was like a plague. It spread across the room of three.

What broke the pressure of the moment? Aquarius' sigh.

"I guess I'll have to show you."

After that, it all unfolded in a flash. Before I could grasp my own surroundings, I found that my legs were…gone. To be replaced with a mermaid tail?! Confusion was clearly written on my face, and the same went for Brandish. When I glanced up, I came upon Aquarius with a smirk on her face.

"Welcome to the _Memory of the Stars_. This is the archive of the life events of celestial spirit mages. And this is where you will find out the truth about what happened to both of your mothers."

Visual mages poured out of the abyss as stars of shimmer rained down on us, bringing us into a whole other dimension. At once, we noticed the first image that showed itself to us. The woman in the image…she looked awfully a lot like me and her stance was somewhat intimidating. Her face showed the true resolve of pure determination as her eyes held that burning of passion and her stance simply oozed of charisma. It was intriguing just to look at her…but, why did she look so much like me?

"That's Anna Heartfilia, the ancestor of the Heartfilias, she was the greatest celestial spirit mage ever known, her power was limitless and her knowledge of the stars exceeded all boundaries, so, she was incomparable to anyone. Well, maybe…Lucy inherited some of her superior power, _maybe_." I smiled warmly at the comment as I noticed alight pink hue that was maintained with much effort. "She helped Zeref, the black magic user, to transport five powerful warriors to the future using the power of the Eclipse gate."

 _Powerful warriors? Wait, Zeref…he told me Natsu came from 400 years ago in the past…the five dragon slayers were raised by dragons but dragons ceased to exist…a long time ago. So…W-Wendy…G-Ga-jeel…St-Sting, R-R-Rogue a-an-and N-Nat…su…were from 400 years ago?!_

Tears formed at my eyes as they hazed my vision, threatening to fall any moment. However, I just merely blinked the tears stinging at my eyes away, this just wasn't the time, not now."

"And so, they awaited a long time for someone to open the gate from X777 and one day, someone did. Layla Heartfilia," My eyes widened as I faced the hidden truth. Was opening the Eclipse gate in relation to my mother's deteriorating health?

 _Without your mum, you would have never met Natsu._

A voice in my head whispered into my conscious as red was painted across my cheeks. Even now, my feelings are fiddling around with my sense of logic.

" _However,"_ There was a shift in tone, it seemed as though it was challenging for the celestial spirit to come to terms with, since it took her much effort to voice out that one elephant in the room. _Why did my mum die around the time she helped to open the Eclipse gate?_

"The amount of power she took to open the gate was just too much for her, leaving her body frail, her magic power depleted and her struggle for the moments of her remaining life force. It was tough for her and it was heart wrenching to see how much suffering she had to go through. Yet, she never ceased to smile. Every single day, she would wear a smile like everything that was happening was normal. She was a courageous lady, she was a passionate master, a beautiful wife and a loving mother, she was all we celestial spirits could gawk at."

"Now, Layla would never kill your mother, Brandish. Going back on track, since her magic power was at a loss, she decided to give the three Zodiac keys she had to the three people she trusted very much. She gave the key of Capricorn to the infamous mage Lucy fought on Tenroujima, Zoldy. She gave the key of Cancer to Ms. Spetto, her trusty servant whom she considered to be her valuable friend and a motherly figure to Lucy. And lastly, she gave my key to Brandish's mother. Brandish's mother looked at Layla with great admiration, great respect, she treated my key nicely, polishing it whenever she had the time and would stare at it longingly, with the remembrance of Layla forever in her mind. One day, she decided to visit Layla. Once she arrived, she was astonished to see a rare and shocking sight. It was unbearable. It was _Layla_ , panting hard, with the passion and determination in her eyes draining and the fiery life inside her eyes slowly drifting away. Brandish's mum rushed to her side, filled with the vehement worry that the fragile woman in front of her may crack at any point in time."

As we turned out ranges of sight to the flashback that appeared before us, it allowed me and Brandish, two enemies, to have a string of empathy entwine around the both of us. I had a feeling that our mothers were really close. You could sense the amount of trust they had in one another just by their actions, their words and their reactions.

While thoughts swirled around my mind, I returned my attention towards the flashback.

"Layla! what happened to you?"

"Grammi…I don't think I can hold on any longer, it's time for me to accept my fate and live on…in your memories."

Grammi's eyes were contorted with agony, self-anguish, tears brimmed at her eyes as they fell like raindrops, as gentle as they could, caressing the supple skin of the middle-aged woman's cheeks.

"Layla…don't give up…how about Lucy? And Aquarius' key…? It would be for the best to give that key to her. She has much more potential to be a full-fledged celestial mage."

"Mm, also, your daughter…Brandish right? She seems to have the potential to be an outstanding mage one day," Layla coughed painfully, later continuing, "I do hope that Lucy and Brandish could be _great friends_ like us."

"Me? Great friends with you? Milady, you must be joking, I am too inferior to be your friend," Grammi stated bashfully as she waved her hands with speedily from side to side to show her disagreement to the statement.

"Nonsense, you are a _great_ friend of mine and I treasure you very very much. So…how is Brandish doing?"

Afterwards, the two women gushed on about the events in life before Layla fell into a deep sleep due to her weak condition.

Right after leaving the golden, shimmering key on Layla's bedside table, Grammi took her leave, as tears streamed down her face and cascaded onto a handkerchief she had at hand. It was prominent on how much she cared for Layla and yearned ofor her friend's upmost health and security.

However, she failed to notice the black silhouette loolming behind her in the shadows.

 _Slowly…_

 _Slowly…_

 _Approaching the crying figure…_

 _And there went the bloodlust._

You could see it in his eyes, he was not just some lunatic who wanted to kill Grammi, he was on a hunt. And he was thirsty, thirsty for the bittersweet tang of revenge. It was painful to watch, it shook up my heart and it made my adrenaline pick up when I witnessed that bloody and cruel murder.

If that was what a mere outsider who had not had any form of contact with Grammi whatsoever felt, then, what would Brandish have felt right now?

"MOTHER! NO! DON'T DIE! Come back to me…no…why…"

All she could do was to watch her mum get brutally murdered right in fornt of her eyes, it was gruesome and the murder's intent was grotesque, like a plague that had formed with bits and pieces of misunderstanding. It was horrifying to see such a strong woman break into a fragile young girl. Right then, Brandish was sobbing ferociously and the amount of salinity that stained her face wasn't enough to explain how much she was wallowing in the depths of her sorrow at the moment. Crushing as it were to watch revenge be wrongfully and woefully inflicted towards an innocent victim, it was even worse to see Brandish losing whatever form of composure she had left. All I could do was thow my body forward and bring her into a tight embrace.

Letting all her worries out through the embrace that intensified emotions, allowing room for the cognitive dissonance that had built up over all this time to be finally set free.

To allow all the pent-up anger, frustrations, worry and doubt to flit away into nothingness.

What she needed was comfort and that was what I could give to her.

 _I do hope that Lucy and Brandish could be great friends like us._

Those words continued and echoed on in my head.

I really did hope my mum's wish would come true.

 **Author's Note: Whoops! I have gone and done it. My sincerest apologies, my dear readers! I didn't think I would be so busy for school and I also fell sick on another lingering occasion, so…THIS IS THE UPDATE YALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. Yes, I know it's just the chapter of "Memory Of the Stars" be expressed in words, but I really liked this chapter, it was quite the arduous process to write though, because I had writer's block for like a few days and I didn't manage to successfully arrange my words into a story, so yeap. I promise that I won't give up on this story no matter what and that it is my top priority, so rest assured!**

 **Oh, and shout out to my friends (psychological siblings) YQ and YX for reminding me to update my fanfiction in our group chats! ._. Love yall! This chapter is dedicated to the both of you, hehe.**

 **Anyways, Over and Out! (The next chapter will be out quite late *Early warning* because I have EXAMS the next week and they are worth a huge portion of my grade, I am sho effing sorry )**


	13. Omake 4:Would You Love Me Again?

Omake 4: Would You Love Me Again?

It was never a tough decision when it came to the fire dragon slayer, he was rash in his decisions, always making bold ones and would never hesitate to put any plans he had into action. He knew his imprudent actions may cause him to repent for his actions but he never gave it a lingering thought. Why would he? Igneel told him to live life to the fullest, and to him, it was all about living in the moment, not dwelling over incessant memories lurking at the horizon of the past, it just seemed unnatural to him, the blonde mage seemed unnatural to him.

She was always thinking. Always hesitating. She was one of wits and would always think through her actions before carrying out any form of plan, she wasn't rash, she was cautious, for fear she would do something she would be filled with grief and remorse for later on. She had never had actually jumped into a situation before, it was all part of her mentality, it would never change.

Until they met each other.

Total opposites, in a city called Hargeon. When their eyes met, it was as though fate had decided to entwine the two in a never-ending journey.

His ignorance to any dire consequences rubbed off onto her a little, allowing her to be more care-free in making her decisions. Her circumspection rubbed off onto him as well, causing him to be able to make wiser decisions.

They completed each other, they were two pieces of a puzzle, waiting to be fixed together.

Until, that day befell.

It was excruciating for her to watch. Him, fighting Zeref, when he clearly knew what everything would lead to in the very end. Even though she told herself it would be okay, even though she told herself that his decision was his, she could not bear the weight of watching this battle. She didn't care who won, either way, her soulmate was going to…come to an end.

Why was she even allowing this?

Yes, she wanted to respect his decision.

Yes, she had a magnificent depth of affinity with him.

Yes, she was suffering from a huge case of cognitive dissonance facing such a huge crisis.

Yes, she _loved_ him.

But she couldn't move.

Her hands, shaking.

Lips, quivering.

How could she move?

She bit her lip as the red, vile liquid oozed out, dripping onto the cold dirt, seeping into the Earth with its crimson touch.

Then, it happened. He defeated Zeref, but the question in my head was "Was he the victor of his own life?".

She could only move when her body screamed for her to rush towards his limp body, seemingly starting to drain of existence. His body started to emanate a glow, as he drifted off into the sky, whispering into her ear,

"If we met once more, would you love me again?"

The tears coursed down her cheeks in huge abundance as her lips parted to say, "Of course…of course I would…forever and always…"

She shut her eyes shut as more saline liquid ran down, cascading like a beautiful stream, however, she never realized how beautiful she looked, with tears bringing out the sparkle in her eyes, with her hair being blown in waves, to further contrast her blonde locks to the cold atmosphere in that very valley. And her radiant skin glowing, from whatever of his remaining life source.

But what was the most mesmerizing thing of all?

Her hugging the white scarf ever-so-tightly, it seemed as if she would never let it go, even through the flow of never-ending time.

If you listened close enough, you would hear her melodious voice weeping convulsively, muttering, "I love you…I really do…"

 **Hello, dear readers! Yes, I am a sadist and I know that. Some of my friends are going to strangle me once they read this soooooo no need to come after me after reading this depressing chapter. I was like, "Hmm, since Lucy died in the last omake, why not make Natsu die as well?" My mind is so messed up but YES I LOVE NALU but I LOVE NALU ANGST more sooooo, yeap! BTW Omakes are just like fluff chapters to separate the chaos in the main story so the events don't really take place in the story so yeap ! ALSO IM BACK GUYS ! SCHOOL HOLS JUST STARTED AND LIBRANALU29 IS BACK IN FULL SWINGZ ! HURRAY ! I am so sorry for being like a few months late, it has been a hectic school life for me and I** ** _PROMISE_** **to…*wait for it* UPDATE EVERY TWO DAYS ! how cool is that ? this plan is confirmed for the whole of June so do not fret dear readers, "The Sacrifice" is back in full swing !**

 **Anyways, Over and Out!**


	14. Chapter 10: Weirdo

Chapter 10: Weirdo

Okay, so before I start on with the chapter, I have some stuff I want to change to the story: So now, all the Spriggan 12 (except Brandish cuz she's all good now) has been defeated and now Zeref only has his army left. So, the ONLY person left to defeat is Zeref. Acnologia has been defeated as well, so I repeat: **ZEREF IS THE ONLY PERSON LEFT TO DEFEAT**. I'm so sorry for the inconsistent plot, please remember that this is my first fanfiction. ^. ごめん、みんな！(Gomen, minna!)

Natsu's perspective:

The trickling sound of the water in a nearby stream resounded in my ears as Happy and I took refuge under the shade of a tree after that trembling battle of both wits and magic power. I had to take a breather, inhaling the musty and settling smell of the forest that we were currently in, it managed to relieve me of the undeniable stinging pain in my brain, even causing it to throb. I never knew that this amount of emotions could taint me like this, and every time I thought about Lucy's face, my heart clenched, as though lost, grief-stricken, on what to say to her, or even _if_ I would manage to be able to talk to her afterwards.

The sun was setting, spreading its cantaloupe rays across the sky, making a sky an endless canvas. Though beautiful, it could only remind me of how I would never see the sky again and how I would never be able to see Lucy smile again.

As night fell and the sky became enveloped in an onyx blanket, only my thoughts were there to consume me, along with the chatter of the crickets in the crisp night. As soon as I heard the light snoring of my blue-furred companion, I set off into the night, muttering a soft "sorry", that would only remain to be carried off into the wind. As I ran in the dark of night, my feet burned, my heartbeat pelting out of my chest. Millions of thoughts raced through my mind, and I could feel my body absorbing Etheranos from the atmosphere, as though already knowing that I would have to recharge and regenerate for the looming battle, probably the _last_ one. Pushing those thoughts aside, I continued forward, refusing to look back. I was _ready_ , both emotionally and physically.

Lucy's perspective:

"Sorry…"

I could hear the susurration of Natsu's voice in the wind as I was going towards Fairy Tail's base with Brandish.

There was a feeling in my gut that something had gone horribly wrong. There was a knot in my stomach and my innards felt queasy, as though there were countless unspoken words stuck in my throat. My eyebrows creased together, filled with immense worry. Doubting myself for feeling uneasy with the person I trusted the most in this world, I shook my head and put on the best smile I could muster, and made my way towards the guild.

Brandish must have noticed my stiffness and the tension in the air, boring holes into my neck with rays of concern. Her gaze beckoned me to explain the sudden tension in the air, however, I believed that it was the best to keep quiet, as the more I thought about it, the more erratic my heart was. The feeling was ominous, but familiar, as it was similar to how my heart felt a slight tug when I came back from Tenrou Island after 7 years and decided to visit my father. With a wavering heart filled with unease, I stepped inside the towering guild, compressing my screaming urge to run to Natsu.

Natsu's perspective:

I managed to run towards Zeref's lingering scent and I knew that his range of proximity was getting close. With my panting and drained physical finesse, I decided to slow down and inhale deep breaths before truly facing him. I knew I had to regain all of my magic power in order to defeat Zeref (and myself). It was hard to admit, but it seemed that even for me, I was still in a psychological war with myself, the battle never ceasing to end, I was in a crossfire with my longing for more time together with my friends and comrades and my resolution in order for the world to be rid of Zeref. Still unwilling to side towards my longing, I noticed that I had stop panting and my body was brimming, or practically oozing, with magic power, willpower and determination.

With that, I set off again, knowing that dusk would arrive once I reach the location of my target.

Even as I was breezing through the forest and the endless vast plains of land, I managed to think about everyone and of course, everything that had happened over the years that I had met Lucy.

To think that meeting a single person, could turn out to be such an adventure. I didn't know what it was, but I felt that Lucy had this special pull on me. Her curves seemed to lure me in, with that voluptuous body of hers. Though many, _many_ girls in Fairy Tail owned charming figures, only Lucy's seemed to captivate me immensely.

Her voice chimed like a tuned melody and I could fall asleep to her reading a story. Despite what she thinks, I had never thought of her story-telling as boring, I had thought of it as soothing and it relieved any form of anguish, pain, misery or boredom, wait, it didn't relieve me, it rid me of all those worries and chains in my life.

And she was actually…very… _beautiful_. She was pretty, any man could admit it, but to me, she was the most attractive. Even among all the women I have met, Lucy seemed to be the prettiest. Yes, there _was_ Mirajane with her modelling but to _me_ , Lucy was more enchanting, entrancing.

She was weird in all her ways, she was loud and sometimes, very insecure but she was never a weirdo to me. She was a ball of sunshine just exploding with quirks that could brighten up my day any time.

 _I guess the only reason I call her a weirdo is that she makes me feel weird. I wonder why._

Even thinking about her made me smile despite the heavy situation I was in.

But the more I thought about her, my heart felt like it had started shredding itself.

It was torture.

 _I'm sorry, Luce…this is for the best._

HEHEHEHEHE, it's called "LOVE", my dear Natsu :3. I hope y'all liked this chapter, anyways, please comment and leave your reviews!

Anyways, Over and Out!


	15. Chapter 11: Please Be Alright

Chapter 11: Please Be Alright

Lucy's perspective:

That pounding in my head would not stop. There was this lump in my throat and there were goosebumps travelling all across my arms, conquering the area of my skin. My senses were heightened to an extent that the air felt colder, and my mouth felt heavier and drier, as though I had been swallowing lead. My hands had cold sweat stuck onto them at every curving corner.

Anxiety. Anticipation. Unease.

I had a burning urge to find out what could be the cause of such absurd symptoms my body was experiencing.

Taking even deeper breaths to attempt to calm my nerves down, I reminded myself nothing –

"LUCY!"

Third's person perspective:

A blur of blue entered the guild halls and Lucy's name was booming through the guild hall. Happy, with his wings unfolded and soaring, rushed towards Lucy at maximum speed and full velocity. As he crashed with the blonde, Lucy could see tears brimming at the Exceed's eyes, and coating his fur with the very liquid. His mouth quivering and whimpering like a lost child, Happy cried, "Save Natsu! He ran off while the both of us were taking a rest! It's all my fault for falling asleep and dozing off…i-it's..a-a-all my f-f-fault. Please find him…please! I know he's going to go to Zeref to defeat him! Even…Even though he knows…".

Probably due to the long distance that he had to travel, Happy collapsed into Lucy's arms, his wings disappearing and his eyes drooping to a close.

Lucy's perspective:

 _This couldn't be happening. What did Happy mean by "he knows"? I knew that ominous feeling was not due to my paranoia. Don't tell me…Natsu wants to extinguish himself?!_

I had to do something. Anything. But how? My body wouldn't budge. I felt millions of nails pinning me down, not giving me room to move, air to breathe. Only the cold limpid fluid flowing down my cheeks could pull me out of my trance. Blinking the tears inside my eyes out, I immediately questioned, "Where is he?" I could feel the stares of the other members inside the guild on me, everyone had gone quiet, until I could hear Brandish offer, "I could help you, with my ability to manipulate size, I can make your blue cat bigger so he can find your pink-haired friend easier."

I whipped my head around so quickly that I could hear the muscle of my neck twitch. "Okay! Let's go!"

"Lucy, be careful! Do you need back-up?" I could hear the voice of Cana bombarding my senses at that moment. However, I took a deep breath, took a step to face her, putting on a smiling front, I relieved her of her creased eyebrows and consoled her that I was going to be alright.

"I'll be alright."

With both my heart and head pounding, I exited the confines of the guild, feeling extremely nauseated.

I could slightly hear the whispers of Cana, Mavis, the Master, and even Max and Warren saying, "Please be alright and careful, Lucy."

Third Person's Perspective:

Brandish used her magic and Happy began to morph into a towering giant, his wings could span for about two small mountains, but neverthesless, that was an impressive feat, looking at the indifference it made to her stamina even by using that much magic power.

Then, to Lucy, Brandish did something unimaginable.

"OH MY GOD, HE'S SO FLUFFY!"

As soon as Brandish had said that, she started caressing Happy's blue fur in her hands and gave very detailed comments about how flocculent Happy's fur was, leaving Lucy rendered speechless.

After the small stage of comical relief, Happy gently placed them on his head as he took flight.

Lucy's perspective:

The mackerel clouds passed by the azure sky, and the warmth of the sun touched my frosty skin. However, I never did enjoy the beauty of the flight. All I could think about was the crushing desolation from abstaining to tell Natsu the truth about himself. Instead, I left him to find out the truth of his past in the most brutal way, and yet, he was still determined to kill himself.

 _You are an idiot, Natsu! How would I feel with you gone?_

Then, the faces of the people whom I care about came into picture. Though I knew I promised them that I would be cautious and would come back to be alright, I knew I was lying. I knew something was going to come up. And I was resolved to sacrifice whatever I may have to offer, in order to save Natsu.

Biting my lip could not help in preventing my tears from flowing down, and my sobs went from stifling to just me crying. I felt a pair of arms around my body. "You crying isn't cute at all, feel better already!" Brandish said, looking away with a hue of pink on her cheeks, in her own way of consolation. That brought a surreal feeling of warmth inside of me even in my moment of distress.

Wiping away the last of my tears, I looked up at the glaring sun, that seemed comforting at the moment, knowing my resolve was burning as strongly and as brightly as the Sun. I took in comfort from the Sun, comfort from Brandish, comfort from Happy as I could feel him tense up under us, and comfort from my friends back at the guild. I could feel my parents smiling to me, being my guardian angels, from up above. And lastly, comfort from reminiscing Natsu's carefree personality. All out little moments together.

That was when I realized that I no longer had a crush on him, I _longed_ for him.

I, Lucy Heartfilia, was in _love_ with Natsu Dragneel. I was even willing to make _The Sacrifice_.

 **HOHOHOHO. Did you see what I did with the title? Smart move, eh? Anyways, see? This story is getting to its climax and also! I have great news! I am going to be working on a new fanfiction (NALU OFC) after I am done with this one :"). It will be based on my FAVOURITE drama of all time ** wink wink wink **. HOWEVER, I will not be using the whole plot, I will make them as "Natsu" and as "Lucy" as possible. Oh, and Gale, Gruvia and a lil Jerza will happen :"). I love y'all. Please look forward to my future works! Oh, and I will be changing my author name by the next chapter, so I will no longer be LibraNalu29, I'm going to have a cooler name – MetallicZinc! Oh, and you will find out my name at the last chapter of this** **fanfiction! All the good news tho :")** **Cool, huh?**

 **Anyways, Over and Out!**


	16. Chapter 12: Sorry

Chapter 12: Sorry

 **A/N: I wrote this chapter while listening to some emotional songs as I really helped me get into the vibe of the chapter, just plain sad. So, here are some songs that can help you get into the mood of the chapter:**

\- **Grand Piano by Nicki Minaj**

\- **Water Under The Bridge by Adele**

\- **When We Were Young by Adele**

\- **Remedy by Adele**

 **(Yes, a lot of Adele and please bring ice cream if it helps to numb your pain. :"( )**

 **Let's move onto the story!**

Lucy's POV:

As Titan Happy trudged across the plains and fields underneath him, bulldozing away the trees and plants that stood in his way, I manage to notice a light splotch of pink from where I was resting upon.

 _It was him._

 _Natsu._

He was running, panting as if there was no tomorrow. Even if his silhouette looked like he was just a wavering shadow, I could tell right away that it was him. He seemed like a lingering figure, that could disappear from my sight any time soon.

"Happy! There's Natsu!"

The blue cat (ginormous) at the moment, squinted his eyes and as soon as his eyes had the sparkle of recognition in them, we dove for Natsu, with Happy's wings flapping in the wind.

As soon as we reached to an area of close proximity, Natsu managed to notice us beforehand already, not like we were very discreet either, and he seemed bewildered all the while Happy took to land, even causing a mini earthquake in the process.

I could notice a few words being murmured by Natsu in the process, my eyes never left his stature. There was this feeling and hint of sadness and guilt in his eyes. And he had already found out about him being E.N.D, he must be furious with me, how could I be such a fucking useless best friend? Best friends are supposed to stick together in tough situations but what did I do? I just stood by, conflicting with my own useless feelings interfering with everything that I could have done to prevent such a huge blow for the dragon slayer that I love.

With tears stinging at my eyes, I trudged forward, ready to face whatever was going to be thrown at me. To confront the Salamander that almost everybody in the continent of Fiore has heard of. To confront my best friend. To confront my crush.

With quivering lips and a shaking demeanor, I managed to form a sentence.

"Natsu…what are you trying to do?"

[DRAMATIC PAUSE]

His eyes shone with a dark presence, a gloomy aura radiating from his onyx eyes. "I'm…going to defeat Zeref." A tone that held a flurry of both hesitation, regret and just raw determination.

With my heart hammering on my chest with its full-hearted respone, and me knowing I was unable to change his mind, I reluctantly asked, "But why? Why do you have to go and risk your life for this?!"

The tension in the air was petrifying, there was a shift in the mood.

I touched a nerve I shouldn't touch.

He was pissed.

"Why shouldn't I?! Hes the core of all the mess that has been happening in our lives! I don't care if he was or is my brother, I don't care if I die because of this. I don't care about all of this anymore. All I know is that I have to defeat him, no matter how big the cost is."

No one could have fathomed what could had happened next.

A slap resounded in the air, with the aghast faces of Brandish and Happy in the background, the sound of my weeping could be heard as well.

 _I just slapped Natsu._

 _I just slapped Natsu._

 _I just slapped Natsu._

 _I just slapped Natsu._

 _I just slapped Natsu._

 _I just slapped Natsu._

 _I just slapped Natsu._

 _What the hell was I thinking?!_

 _But my mind didn't match with what came out of my heart next._

"Then what about Fairytail?! What about Happy?! What about your guild mates that are waiting for you back at the guild?! What about Igneel who told you to keep on living without looking back?! What about...w-what about…me?!"

His eyes widened as I mentioned the last portion. Whilst ignoring the redness that was spreading towards my cheeks, I continued without thinking about the aftermath of the situation,

"I care about you, Natsu. So much that you can't even comprehend due to how stupid you are being right now! Is risking your entire life filled with memories and your existence to the people you love and the people who love you back so easy to do?!"

"WHY CAN'T YOU SEE IT'S NOT EASY FOR ME?"

The booming outburst left everyone wide-eyed. Natsu _never_ shouted at someone he wasn't battling before. He was never the one to break into an emotional outburst. And it doesn't feel good. At all. Every inch of me felt raw and exposed, as if all my defenses had been ripped away from me, and all too soon, all too fast.

I could feel the dampness of my cheeks, I could tell my vision was blurring, I could tell I was choking with all the emotions that were unable to be contained in that one moment. I was suffocated. Unable to speak, I blinked away the eyes, to see that Natsu's head was sided to the left, his pink locks falling gently onto his eyes, clouding his eyes, minimizing the amount of area that I was able to see of his eyes. He was barricading all means for me to find out the truth behind his words and his plans to defeat Zeref. He didn't want me to stop him from finishing his brother off.

 _That sentence never rolled properly off my tongue. It seemed so_ _ **wrong**_.

My tears rained down like they never had, my eyes clouding everything, my silent weeps became full sobs, and I cried like I would not be able to cry again.

Natsu didn't deserve this, he had always been the one to give us that boost of energy, that source of hope. His childish ways, his determination burning in whatever he does, the way he practically radiated relentlessness in every direction possible, the way he comforts his friends in their time of need, the way he went out of his way to care for his friends. He never deserved this, why did fate take a toll for the worst for his life? He has never done any wrongs, omitted any sins that would grant him this way of life. Why did the worst events unfold for the best of people?

 _It's all so stupid._

My tears still reflecting the light from the edge of my eyes, the previous sentence resounded from both inside me and the person in front of me.

"Everything is just so messed up for me, it seems stupid, doesn't it?" He chuckled, "No matter how hard I try to keep my spirits high, why doesn't it work for this situation? Why must everything be so fucked up? Why is _he my_ brother? And why can't you see that all the decisions I have made for this situation alone have been gnawing away at me from the inside, they slowly drive me insane, and they let me fall. I used to be so headstrong, so determined, and where has all that determination gone? Lucy…I'm just scared. I know I am risking the rest of my life, all the memories from the past, the air that I'm breathing right in the present, and all the possibilities of a better tomorrow from the future, how could I just give it all up? But, I know that _my_ sacrifice would be much better than someone like _you_ , Lucy, dying because of some bipolar dark wizard just because _I_ could not protect you. I just – "

"What if I say I love you?" I wasted no time at all in that confession, no fireworks, no flowers, just a plain question. (Wow, Lucy, you must feel proud to tell your children about this love story in the future.) I could not stand by and wait for Natsu to completely obliterate everything he believed in, all the morals he stood by. I couldn't just stand by and watch his digress into something that was just not Natsu. But to do so, I had to put my own feelings to the test, I would have to be ready to give my own pure feelings in the open, to know what really was at stake. I knew all about my feelings for the dim-witted idiot that was somewhere underneath the person that was before me.

Everything that happened next was in a blur.

"Sorry, Lucy. But I don't love _you_."

 _…_ _W-What?_

 **I'm going to leave the chapter here for now. I finally got my writer juices back and I'm really happy with this chapter! As you can see, the structure got better and NaLu is finally united! And yes, I cried while writing this chapter. :"( I'm so sorry for Natsu rejecting Lucy but this has to happen. And yes, this** ** _is_** **a NaLu fanfic.**

 **Please continue reading, fellow reader / don't be a ghost follower of the story / feel free to follow and favourite the story, feel free to drop me a review! Really appreciate y'all!**

 **Over and Out!**

 **-MetallicZinc**


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